I was invited to attend the International Trader Forum

in Amsterdam this week. The event was interesting because it

brought together senior executives from both the buy-side and

sell-side to debate the current state and future direction of our

industry.

I came away from the event both

excited about all the new opportunities that are emerging, but

also with a sense of trepidation too. There were a number of

themes that emerged, but there does seem to be real concern about

the impending regulation coming in from both sides of the

Atlantic. It feels to me that it's vital that the regulators make

sure that they focus on the real issues, and resist the urge to

appease the less informed politicians that need to grab the

headlines. Take one small example - the impact of dark

pool trading on overall price formation (which was discussed at

some length this week). If 200 of the finest minds in the

industry (plus your humble correspondent) couldn't agree the

level at which dark pool trading has an impact on overall price

formation, then what chance do the regulators have?

Another area that got significant airplay was the

consolidated tape in Europe. Again, similar issues surface here

too as many of the subtleties are misunderstood. It's

not really about publishing a pre trade EBBO (European Best Bid

& Offer), but about providing the market with unbiased,

clear and consistent information post trade. The issue was

summarised neatly by the ever insightful Dr Robert Barnes, MD at

UBS, who said that "post-trade transparency is pre-trade

transparency for the next trade".

Overall,

however, the twin themes of visibility and the provision of

investor choice seemed to be the consensus for resolving the

majority of the issues facing the industry. Maybe this is where

the regulators need to re-focus their energies and let the market

resolve the detail on its own.