ETD clearing infrastructure has come a long way since the stress events of 2020. But legacy reliance, fragmentation and manual interventions still present costly burdens. A new report from Nasdaq and Acuiti examines how FCMs are prioritizing platform modernization, real-time data and risk management as buy-side demands and post-trade priorities evolve.
Volumes and volatility are growing, putting new strain on ETD clearing infrastructure. To keep pace in modern markets, clearing technology is being asked to process risk in real time, enable margin transparency and integrate seamlessly across asset classes and CCPs.
The challenge facing many future commission merchants (FCMs) is their existing technology stack was not built for this reality. Our research shows that 53% of FCMs cite reliance on legacy post‑trade systems as their top operational pain point.
The impact is compounded by fragmentation. 51% of firms identify data quality and fragmentation as a critical challenge, creating environments where risk, margin and collateral data are dispersed across multiple disparate systems. The result is slower insight, more costs, increased operational effort and limited flexibility.
In response, firms are taking action to invest in modernized platforms. 69% of FCMs plan to increase post‑trade investment over the next three years to gain automation, meet client demands and position for a future of AI/ML.
We spoke to 50 senior executives at bank and non bank FCMs, as well as other clearing brokers globally and buy-side clients. Quantitative findings were complemented by in depth qualitative discussions across operations, technology and business leadership.
FCMs are looking to technology vendors to reduce legacy reliance and costs, increase efficiency and solve pain points across operations:
About half of firms cited reliance on manual interventions as a top operational pain point today.
Just over a third of firms primarily used third-party platforms; 50% took a hybrid approach utilizing vendor and in-house.
FCMs see the biggest capabilities gaps in client reporting and margin and risk.
No buy-side respondent rated their broker’s platform as “very consistent” in evaluation and treatment of risk exposures.
Our research found a wide mandate among FCMs for post-trade infrastructure modernization. But where do they want to improve and what are the drivers of investment?
Buy‑side expectations are a central driver of FCM modernization. Asset managers and hedge funds increasingly expect clearing providers to deliver transparency, consistency and real‑time insight:
Higher funding costs and volatility are forcing buy-side clients to seek more immediate margining to optimize performance. Clearing modernization is increasingly a question of market relevance—shaping how FCMs demonstrate control, credibility and value in the next phase of client relationships.
62% of firms said they are more likely to pursue a vendor platform for their next upgrade, looking for optimized total cost of ownership and ease of integration.
62% of firms said they are more likely to pursue a vendor platform for their next upgrade, looking for optimized total cost of ownership and ease of integration.
Read the Nasdaq and Acuiti report to understand current challenges with ETD clearing technology and how FCMs plan to address these gaps with platform modernization.
Please check your inbox to read the report.
How will FCMs respond to buy-side pressures and legacy limits? This summary article lays out the narrative behind the data and looks at what ETD clearing modernization will look like.
Nasdaq's Dan Upbin examines the case for ETD clearing modernization and the need to build connected infrastructure that supports front-to-back clearing workflows with automation.
Nasdaq's Adrian Carr looks at the survey insights from a risk lens, exploring the trend toward greater intraday visibility, real-time data and margin transparency.
As regulatory reforms and market structure changes transform collateral management needs globally, Nasdaq’s Clearing and Collateral solutions provide a strategic platform for CCPs to enhance services, realize collateral efficiencies, and capture business opportunities in the new collateral management paradigm.
As regulatory reforms and market structure changes transform collateral management needs globally, Nasdaq’s Clearing and Collateral solutions provide a strategic platform for CCPs to enhance services, realize collateral efficiencies, and capture business opportunities in the new collateral management paradigm.
Please check your inbox to read the Nasdaq CCP Clearing and Collateral Solutions factsheet.
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Nasdaq Financial Technology serves both financial market infrastructures and market participants including banks, brokers and asset and fund managers. Our solutions span trading, clearing, risk, surveillance and central securities depositories for market operators, as well as end-to-end, cross-asset capital markets technology and regulatory reporting for participants to manage front, middle and back office functions.
