Financial Technologies Forum, LLC

19/12/2025

Save in 2025. Win in 2026.

Don't forget...our final PMCR sale ends TODAY! Register by tonight and save up to $350.

One pass gets you:
📅 Two full conference days (Feb. 25-26)
📝 Choice of pre-event workshop (Feb. 24)
👌 Three dedicated streams: Performance, Client Reporting, and the NEW RFP & Client Services track
📲 New interactive event app
🤝 Networking with 175 senior buy-side professionals

P.S... With three concurrent streams, one person can't be everywhere. Groups of 3+ save 15%—and your team covers more ground.

Grab your tickets here https://pages.ftfnews.com/event-registration-2026.

19/12/2025

Struggling with low portal adoption? Worried about your crisis response plan? Get the answers you need at PMCR 2026.

Evan Witkowski of Wespath Institutional Investments will be joining two of our panel discussions, "Building Client Portal Success: Strategy, Self-Service & Engagement" and "Crisis Management: When Performance, Reporting, and Client Relations Collide," to discuss proven strategies to boost portal adoption while maintaining security, as well as confidently navigate performance issues when stakes are highest.

Real scenarios, actionable takeaways. Join us.

Check out the agenda for more info on Evan's sessions (and more!): https://pages.ftfnews.com/performance-measurement-and-client-reporting-agenda

Are you interested in speaking at PMCR? Let us know! https://pages.ftfnews.com/speak-for-us-at-pmcr.

18/12/2025

What does 24x5 trading REALLY mean for securities firms?

According to a recent report from the DTCC and EY, 60% of firms will have to upgrade their risk mitigation and technology with the shift to 24x5.

Here's what else they found:
🌃 Up to 10% of total equity volume is projected to shift to overnight sessions by 2028.
📈 Retail investors are expected to initially drive overnight trading.
⏱️ Institutional traders are anticipated to increase participation during market stress and as infrastructure develops.
⚙️ Firms will need to update protections like circuit breakers and surveillance systems, plus adapt their data feeds to operate continuously throughout the week.

To learn more about what's in store for U.S. equity markets, click here: https://www.ftfnews.com/longer-trading-times-could-spur-costly-upgrades-report/.

18/12/2025

This week's "Minding the Gap": The CFTC knows a thing or two about a quick turnaround 🏃‍♀️‍➡️

On November 25th, Caroline D. Pham, the acting chairman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced that the agency was seeking nominees for its new "CEO Innovation Council." On December 10th, Pham announced the first round of council members.

The members represent conventional and digital asset exchanges, and they “will engage in public discussion of market structure developments in derivatives markets," says the CFTC.

FTF's Eugene Grygo covers the participants and next steps at https://www.ftfnews.com/cftc-names-members-of-the-ceo-innovation-council/.

17/12/2025

For our latest Q&A, Neil Chopra at Fireblocks discusses the worlds of traditional and emerging digital asset custody. The upshot is that securities-trading firms must learn to manage and facilitate wallets, policies, blockchains & more:

(Neil Chopra, head of strategy and business development, Americas, at Fireblocks, recently responded to questions from FTF News about the worlds of

17/12/2025

🗞️ Post-trade pulse: This week's must-know Ops & Tech updates

This week on FTFnews.com, we cover:
🔸 Legacy IT & blockchains speak different languages: Q&A with Neil Chopra of Fireblocks
🔸 Longer trading times could spur costly upgrades: DTCC & EY report
🔸 Waystone deploys full suite of Fenergo offerings
🔸 CFTC names members of the ‘CEO Innovation Council’
Read these stories and MORE!

Your inbox called—it wants these headlines. Sign up now at ftfnews.com/newsletter/.

Get your full fix → ftfnews.com/news

17/12/2025

Writing portfolio commentary typically takes an analyst 30 minutes to an hour per portfolio. With AI-generated commentary, that drops to about 30 seconds 🤯

But that's not the whole story.

In this podcast episode, FTF's Maureen Lowe gets real with Sean Murray and David Mellars from FactSet about AI-generated commentary, building a "golden source" of data, job replacement, and what happens when firms move into private markets.

Some firms are scaling. Others are stuck in pilot mode. We break down why.

🎧 Listen now and let us know where your firm stands: https://www.ftfnews.com/podcast/building-trust-in-ai-data-commentary-and-the-human-touch-in-performance-reporting/.

16/12/2025

The flow of new investors into traditional markets has slowed significantly.

FINRA Foundation's latest study uncovered that only 8% of investors started in the past two years, compared to 21% in 2021. Meanwhile, 75% of investors who trade on margin got a basic margin question wrong, and 61% of investors under 35 rely on finfluencers for investment decisions.

FINRA Foundation president, Gerri Walsh, says investor education gaps are leaving younger investors vulnerable—especially as they feel pressure to take bigger risks without the knowledge to assess them properly.

FTF'S Eugene Grygo breaks it down in this week's "Minding the Gap": https://www.ftfnews.com/financial-markets-are-seeing-fewer-new-investors/.

16/12/2025

The U.K. Treasury has set its T+1 deadline for October 11, 2027 📅

Andrew Douglas, chair of the U.K. T+1 Taskforce, described the draft Statutory Instrument as "the next critical step in mandating T+1."

The momentum is building--recent research from ValueExchange shows that 66% of 300+ firms are actively preparing. However, 39% risk missing 2026 confirmation deadlines.

Read more about Europe's transition to T+1 on FTF News: https://www.ftfnews.com/u-k-treasury-pushes-to-advance-t1/.

11/12/2025

The regulator is letting derivatives markets explore the usage of BTC, ETH, and USDC as tokenized collateral:

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is forging ahead with its highly publicized “Crypto Sprint” and has the blessings of the Genius Act

11/12/2025

🗞️ Fresh off the (digital) press: This week's FTF News post-trade headlines

This week on FTFnews.com, we cover:
💠 U.K. Treasury pushes to advance T+1
💠 CFTC facilitates a digital assets pilot program
💠 Voss Capital taps SS&C GlobeOp for fund administration
💠 Building trust in AI: data, commentary, and the human touch in performance reporting with FactSet 🎧

Read these stories and MORE!

Get this news delivered straight to you by our digital paperboy. Sign up now at ftfnews.com/newsletter/.

Get your full fix → ftfnews.com/news/.

11/12/2025

Chicago, are you ready? 🌆

It's time for round 2 of our Holiday Networking series! Join us tonight to connect with fellow ops and tech professionals from Northern Trust, U.S. Bank, Guggenheim Partners, PPM America, Inc. (and others!) for a night of conversation, celebration, and a cocktail (or two).

📍 Cindy's Rooftop Bar (in the Lakeview Lounge) 🗓️ Thursday, Dec 11 | 5:00-8:00 PM 🍸 Cocktails & bites provided

RSVP here: https://pages.ftfnews.com/ftf-autorek-chicago-holiday-party-rsvp-2025

Cheers to our series sponsor AutoRek!