Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Trading Desk?

By Jeff Gearhart

Green light on and red light off on a traffic signaling system that allows cars to get into an underground carpark underneath the business center

Trading desks can drive revenue growth and profitability, differentiate products and services, or simply be a fundamental need for advisor and investment services. Regulatory mandates require strong governance and supervision of sales and trading activities, including access to markets, electronic trading and client transactions. Whether you are implementing a new platform, assessing current practices or simply looking for ways to minimize risk, a Trade Desk Review is an important part of the process.   

An assessment of your firm’s trading desk processes can help maximize the performance of your desks by:

  • improving desk efficiencies, such as streamlining market access, automating trade execution and the transaction flow through the back office
  • providing perspective and tools for management reporting and oversight to maximize risk weighted returns and effective allocation of capital and balance/sheet
  • identifying gaps between your operational risks and controls, allowing to you prioritize where to focus your time and resources to protect your firm
  • helping you leverage the resources of your clearing firm and other market vendors

Oyster Consulting’s experts have extensive knowledge of the major clearing firm products and services, trading platforms and other service providers. We provide perspective and guidance on how to best align processes and fully utilize the services of your key partners. Our former regulators and industry experts will also help you identify potential opportunities to improve desk performance and profitability, and recommend industry compliance and supervisory best practices.  To learn more about how Oyster can help your firm get the most from its trading desks, click here and one of our Relationship Managers will be happy to help you.

About The Author
Photo of Jeff Gearhart

Jeffrey Gearhart

Jeffrey Gearhart is an intuitive, analytical leader with over 30 years of experience in banking and capital markets businesses. Prior to joining Oyster, he held senior leadership roles with The Bank of New York Mellon, including business line COO, CFO, business development and relationship management.