Gears up for tougher new European financial trading regulations

Specialist City trading floor systems integrator, Linx-Networks, is to work with market-leading mobile call recording experts, VoxSmart, to provide trading hubs and solutions that meet the tough new European-wide trading regulations called MiFID II.

The new regulations, which become compulsory from January 2017, determine that all a trading organisation’s calls – fixed and mobile – and other electronic communications relating to its trading business, must be recorded and stored for at least five years. The new rules apply to more organisations and types of communications than the UK’s existing FCA regulations that they will effectively replace.

VoxSmart CEO, Oliver Blower, himself a former City trader, said the new rules demand fully integrated solutions involving IP-based telephony, mobile calls, internet and text messaging with immediate on-site storage, cloud-based back up for long-term archiving, and highly searchable data fields for easy retrieval. Blower has led the development of VoxSmart’s new VSmart™ solution to be able to deliver against the toughened regulatory regime.

“Linx-Networks is an ideal partner for VoxSmart,” said Blower. “The company has a strong client base in the City, delivering world class IP telephony-based trading systems with a high level of customer service. As its clients look to fully meet the requirements of the new MiFID II regulations, the ability to integrate VSmart’s mobile capabilities into its current solutions will undoubtedly help the company maintain its strong market position.”

Linx-Networks CEO Gareth Malone added: “Because the VSmart solution is also built to take advantage of IP telephony calling, it makes for a powerful partnership with our own IP-trading turrets and communications networks. The mobile recording set up is instant, there is compatibility with all mobile networks, and a great range of handset choice. We are certain that the integration with our solutions will deliver a market-leading, all encompassing, compliant call recording service that proves popular with the traders and the regulators.”