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FIA European Principal Traders Association

FIA European Principal Traders Association (FIA EPTA) represents Europe’s leading Principal Trading Firms. Our 30 members are independent market makers and providers of liquidity and risk transfer for exchanges and end-investors across Europe. We work constructively with policymakers, regulators and other market stakeholders to ensure efficient, resilient, high-quality financial markets.

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Recent Updates

  • Press release: Turning The Tables On Liquidity Provision – Download The Report

    Europe’s trading landscape is being fundamentally reshaped as asset managers transform from ‘liquidity takers’ to ‘liquidity makers’. Our new report Turning the Tables on Liquidity Provision lays bare the changes taking place in the UK and EU’s capital markets as the after-effects of the pandemic continue to be felt.

    In particular, equity and fixed-income markets are at the point of a radical shake-up as the buyside settles into the liquidity driving seat. And the impact has prompted calls for the current regulatory rulebook to be overhauled to keep pace with the changes, or risk falling behind.

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  • FIA EPTA response letter to the Discussion Paper on Diversity and inclusion in the financial sector – working together to drive change (DP21/2)

    FIA EPTA appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback to the Bank of England (BoE), Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Discussion Paper regarding Diversity and inclusion in the financial sector – working together to drive change. FIA EPTA members would like to acclaim the BoE, PRA and FCA’s work on including Social and Governance components of ESG in their work to create a sustainable and resilient financial sector.

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  • Press Release: PARADIGM SHIFT AS MARKET MAKERS TAKE CENTRE-STAGE IN EUROPEAN LIQUIDITY PROVISION DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

    The ability of independent market making firms to provide essential liquidity to Europe’s pension funds and other asset managers during the Covid-19 financial crisis has accelerated their recognition as a vital part of the European capital markets eco-system. A new research report surveying European buyside participants reveals for the first time how market makers stepped up to help the asset managers when some of the traditional providers of risk capital partially withdrew from certain market segments in Europe in the early stages of the pandemic.

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  • #WeAreMarketMakers Campaign Launched To Promote Better Understanding Of Market Making Firms In Europe

    A new campaign to promote better understanding of modern market making, what it does and its benefits for wider society, has been launched today. #WeAreMarketMakers is a campaign by FIA EPTA, the European industry body for independent market making companies, as part of its 10th Anniversary activities. The project is not only supported by FIA EPTA’s 30 member firms, but also by others in the markets community that work directly with and alongside the industry.

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  • CMU and the Investment Firm Review: strengthening European capital markets through proportionality

    Hands up if you want up-and-coming European companies to have sufficient access to the money they need to grow and to drive prosperity across the EU? It’s a no brainer – and one of the reasons why European politicians and regulators are keen to push forward the Capital Markets Union.

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  • Developing the CMU through an effective new Prudential Regime for Investment Firms

    One of the building blocks of the EU’s Capital Markets Union project is entering a crucial few months as the proposed new Prudential Regime for Investment Firms enters parliamentary scrutiny.

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  • Flash Crashes – time to stop knee-jerk blaming of HFT?

    On the 6th May 2010, Wall Street experienced what quickly became known as the ‘Flash Crash’. On the 15th January 2015, the Swiss Franc experienced a similar event against the Euro. And in October 2016, there was a flash crash in sterling, following Britain’s vote to leave the EU. The recent events in the sterling market seemed like a good idea to look back at the post event analysis of previous ‘flash crashes’ and review the findings.

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  • The growing body of HFT research: time to put old arguments to bed?

    Over the last few years the great and the good of the world’s regulatory authorities that govern financial markets have studied the impacts of the electronification of the markets, and the role played by high frequency trading. We welcome the recognition in these studies that markets and end users benefit from increased use of innovative technology, in line with the experience with innovation in other industries. We provide a summary of the recent reports.

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  • Five years’ of providing a voice to the EU principal trading industry

    This summer, FIA EPTA marked the 5th anniversary of its foundation. Although still a comparatively young organisation, this milestone has caused the people, like myself, who were there at the start to reflect upon how things have changed since we’ve been in business – as well as looking forward to what the next five years might bring.

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  • CRD IV bonus cap has perverse effect of increasing risk

    The EU's Capital Requirements Directive CRD IV has imposed a bonus cap on credit institutions and investment firms with the intention of discouraging the excessive risk-taking with client monies that contributed to the financial crisis. However, the inappropriate application of this bonus cap to principal trading firms now has the potential to result in the perverse effect of actually increasing risk, whilst hurting market quality.

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