Cboe's Highlights From the Market Infrastructure Programme

What is your role and why did you decide that undertaking the WFE Market Infrastructure programme would be beneficial to you? 

My current role at Cboe is Head of Market Data and Access for Europe, which involves managing both the proprietary market data business as well as connectivity to our markets. I also sit on the European Management Team. The reason I decided to undertake the WFE Market Infrastructure certificate was to broaden my knowledge of the trading eco-system, including clearing and settlement, and to exchange ideas and best practices with other markets.

Talk us through some personal highlights from the programme, and which sessions did you find particularly useful? 

The networking provided by the programme has been a personal highlight for me. With representation from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the Korea Exchange, Qatar Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, BEE4, the BMV and the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange - as well as participants from non-exchange companies - it has been amazing to learn about the challenges we each face in our respective markets. During the industry week in Chicago each student gave an overview of their markets, which I found really insightful.

How have you utilised your learning in the work that you do at your organisation? 

I’ve used the learning to apply a wider perspective on my work, thinking about the broader business and the full market infrastructure value chain.

What was the topic of your industry project, why did you choose it and what were your main conclusions? 

The topic of my industry project was to review retail trading in Europe and in particular the market structure and infrastructure that supports it. I wanted to pick a non-market data topic and with the trend of increasing retail trading in the U.S - particularly since the pandemic through the adoption of shorter-dated options products – to better understand the drivers and lessons that could be learned to increase this community’s participation in European markets.

How beneficial were the two residential weeks: the academic week in London and the practitioner week in Chicago? 

The residential weeks were hugely beneficial and the highlights of the entire course for me and many of my peers. While weekly online academic lessons were good, you cannot substitute for being in-person. The quality and breadth of speakers that the WFE and Bayes were able to source was exceptional. This included CEOs and senior executives from a number of exchanges, including Cboe, regulators (both the FCA and the Federal Reserve), market makers, buy side and sell side, helping bring together the content in a practical manner and helping the cohort better understand what each client segment wants from a market infrastructure provider. The cohort also got to participate in ringing the closing bell on Cboe’s Chicago trading floor.