Trading safety measures pay off

The eagerly awaited final MiFID II text potentially includes regulation around circuit breakers. Yesterday Eurex saw trading in the FDAX drop by 2% within minutes of an ECB announcement, only to recover shortly after. It’s safe to assume that the circuit breaker prevented a more serious situation. Even with a reliable and secure market structure and tightly defined corridors, price swings may still occur and there is little we can do about it. While the cause of yesterday’s FDAX issue is still unclear, those responsible are almost certainly looking at considerable trading losses given Eurex’s confirmation that all trades during the period will hold. That surely provides a strong incentive for any trading firm to continually invest in safe and robust trading processes, as regulation can only protect you so far.