Why wasn’t the buttonwood tree a palm tree?  I love NY, but there is no way to get a captive conference audience like putting them in a tropical resort where not only does no one have anywhere else to be, but no one wants to be anywhere else. My day at the FIA conference in Boca was no vacation, but SEFs become even more fascinating than usual when it’s 81 degrees and there’s a pool in sight.

Weather aside, the mood seemed upbeat and despite the still looming regulatory uncertainty most everyone was excited for their firms growth prospects in the next few years. It really felt like Wall St was back.

Despite the lack of a hostile takeover bid, the news that came out of the week was constant and interesting. New regulations will be late, new SEFs will be plentiful and OTC trading is actually starting to move to the screen.

The title of the SEF focused panel was “Executing a SEF strategy”. I was asked if that meant creating trading strategies for trading on a SEF. My response: unfortunately not, that will be next year.