In the Oscar-winning film The Theory of Everything the lead character Stephen Hawking lays out his vision of a single equation that explains all physical aspects of the universe. This rarefied scientific debate has echoes in the more prosaic world of Transaction Cost Analysis in financial markets, where the availability of more granular data coupled with pressure from regulators is driving a whole new wave of research and analysis, says ITG’s Michael Sparkes.
Industry standards organisation the FIX Trading Community has published its guidelines for transaction cost analysis in equities, which it says will help to create a better market by clearing up the competing methodologies and definitions that are currently in use.
Transaction cost analysis has become a staple feature of equities trading since 2007’s watershed piece of European legislation MiFID. But that’s just the beginning of a journey that is increasingly coming to transform the way FX and fixed income asset classes are traded, according to Michael Sparkes, director of analytical products and research at broker ITG.
