JPMorgan adopts single trading platform JPMorgan is overhauling its trading technology as the financial group seeks ways to offset the rising costs caused by a wave of incoming industry regulations. The US bank is moving more than 30 of its trading venues and functions that execute, clear and process trades on to a single platform for the first time. IN Trading Technology This week will see the first of several stages of its "soft launch." Research, analytics and execution of foreign exchange, interest rates and commodities trades are set to move across to the new system, called JPMorgan Markets. The move to a single platform is a radical change among investment banks, which have historically built trading platforms and processing systems in-house piecemeal, often at great expense. However, they face increasing pressure to cut costs as lower markets activity and new rules eat into profit margins. Some have begun to outsource their trading tools to new independent providers such as Portware, while Deutsche Bank is seeking to convince rivals to share trading software and tools in an effort to collectively lower costs for the industry. JPMorgan has estimated there will be around 14,000 new regulatory requirements in the coming years, relating to the introduction of legislation such as the Basel capital rules and the Dodd-Frank act. Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive, has said the requirements will be costly and complex, estimating that 3,000 people across the bank will be devoted full-time to meeting the rules, at a cost of nearly $3bn. However, he said in JPMorgan's annual report: "We must not let regulatory reform and requirements create excessive bureaucracy and unnecessary permanent costs." Global banks, which dominate the flow of trade between investors and markets, have also been hit by a prolonged downturn in appetite for trading. "Far from being a short-term, post-crisis adjustments, it has become increasingly clear that these shifts are entrenched and irreversible," said Fidessa, a UK trading technology company, in a recent white paper. These changes are being felt hard by the sell-side banks, for whom purely intermediating between clients and trading venues is no longer a guarantee of success. A more radical approach is required," Fidessa argued. JPMorgan has more than 110 trading desks around the world and 2,000 traders making markets and executing trades in securities. By the end of the year, customers will be able to access all of JPMorgan's trading tools. "The reality is that the ability to deliver very high quality technology, and the efficiency that demands, will be a differentiator between firms," said Troy Rohrbaugh, global head of FX and rates trading at JPMorgan.