Veterans of London’s trading floors reflected on how technology and regulation have reshaped FX and derivatives dealing at FMLS:25, in a panel that mixed nostalgia, humor and a recognition that “sterile” modern markets still run on relationships and human judgment.

Moderated by Matthew Cheung, the CEO of fintech data platform ipushpull, the “FX Tales: Stories from the Floor” session brought together Daniel Benton, the Head of Sales and Client Services at London Capital Group, Camilla Boldracchi, Institutional Sales Manager at CMC Connect, and Clive Lambert, the Technical Analyst at Futurestechs.

From Runners and Pits to Charts and Quants

All three stressed that entry to the industry had once been strikingly informal. Lambert recalled simply “walking around employment agencies in London,” landing two offers and choosing stockbroking, while admitting his 19‑year‑old son now faces months of competitive interviewing.

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“I walked around, I mean, this is totally irrelevant for these days. I walked around employment agencies in London, and I got actually, and got two interviews, and got two jobs, one in insurance, one in stockbroking.”

Benton described sending 250 letters drafted by his father, whose embellishments included hobbies such as “socialising” and being a Tottenham Hotspur season ticket holder, before securing “a job I didn’t know I’d applied for, in an industry I knew nothing about” – but at £8,500 a year, it beat “50 quid a week” as a paperboy.

Technology Levels the Field, but Relationships Endure

A central theme was how technology has flattened information asymmetries while changing, but not erasing, the role of human brokers and salespeople.

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Cheung prompted the panel to compare today’s real‑time feeds with the era of Teletext, Ceefax and phone‑only dealing, when retail access to prices was limited and execution Execution Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Read this Term depended on calling a broker.

Benton recalled 1999, when “the only way clients could trade was over the phone” and some non‑clients abused toll‑free lines simply to obtain live prices.

“So if things weren't too busy, we'd have this regular caller who was a bit of a pest. And what we did was we'd have a little bit of fun with him. So he'd phone up and say, what's FTSE today? And you'd say, it's up five points. And he'd say, why is it up? And you'd say, more buyers and sellers.”

Lambert’s favourite anecdote – clearing a packed City pub in “four seconds” by shouting “rate cut” during an emergency Bank of England move – illustrated how slowly information once spread beyond professional circles.

“Now, retail and everybody really is on a reasonably level playing field, especially with products like squawks and things like that that enable you to get information as quickly as the institutions.”

The Art of Sales

Boldracchi highlighted the shift in her client base from heads of operations and trading to quants who “don’t really care about being taken out for lunch” and are “a lot more analytical”, focused on pricing and execution quality.

“However, that knowing that there's always someone on the other side of the line, irrespective of how much markets are open is hugely important still, I'd say. I've been really pleased to see relationship broking survive, to be honest, because I was a broker on the futures, on the life floor.”

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In sales, the panel agreed, the fundamentals have stayed constant even as styles have adapted to new products, clients and oversight.

Benton, who has spent more than two decades in sales, said the core remains “understanding the client”, not over‑promising and delivering consistently, and sometimes being honest enough to say, “we can’t help you here” but steering clients to areas of strength.

Transactions that in 1999 were “virtually all phone‑based” are now largely electronic, he noted, leaving salespeople to “help if things go wrong, encouraging clients if they’ve lost money, and take them out if they’ve had a good time.”

“The most important thing has always been being honest and doing your very best for the client. And sometimes your best for a client is to say, look, I'm sorry, we can't help you here or we can't help you here, but where we're very strong is here and here.”

Adaptation Inside Multi-Product Firms

Boldracchi described modern institutional sales as an exercise in adaptation inside multi‑product firms. At a group like CMC, she said, salespeople must “morph” into different personas depending on whether they are dealing with FX, equities Equities Equities can be characterized as stocks or shares in a company that investors can buy or sell. When you buy a stock, you are in essence buying an equity, becoming a partial owner of shares in a specific company or fund.However, equities do not pay a fixed interest rate, and as such are not considered guaranteed income. As such, equity markets are often associated with risk.When a company issues bonds, it’s taking loans from buyers. When a company offers shares, on the other hand, it’s selling pa Equities can be characterized as stocks or shares in a company that investors can buy or sell. When you buy a stock, you are in essence buying an equity, becoming a partial owner of shares in a specific company or fund.However, equities do not pay a fixed interest rate, and as such are not considered guaranteed income. As such, equity markets are often associated with risk.When a company issues bonds, it’s taking loans from buyers. When a company offers shares, on the other hand, it’s selling pa Read this Term or technology‑driven clients, effectively becoming “a bit of a chameleon” to match technical depth and risk appetite.

“I feel like things are becoming a lot more sterile.” For all the camaraderie and excess in the older stories, the panel did not romanticize everything.

The speakers acknowledged that many of the antics they described would now breach HR and conduct rules, that getting a first job is “really, really difficult” for today’s graduates, and that remote work has damped some of the energy and spontaneity of physical floors.

But their message to the FMLS audience was that, beneath the algorithms and regulations, the FX and derivatives business still depends on human relationships, quick thinking and an ability to adapt – whether as a farm‑hand‑turned‑broker, a multilingual salesperson or a young runner whose knack for finding a quiet cupboard becomes City legend.