Join us in Chicago for a focused day of discussion around the evolving landscape of exchange technology. This year’s AFM Tech Day will explore the full spectrum of solutions powering modern markets — from matching engines and market surveillance to cloud infrastructure, APIs, and digital asset integration.
We’ll spotlight emerging trends, practical implementations, and lessons learned from exchanges across the globe. Expect a mix of technical deep dives, strategic insights, and peer-driven dialogue as we look toward the future of exchange innovation.
The agenda will include the following practical sessions:
- Setting the Scene: What to expect from exchange solutions/systems
- Scaling: Explore the architectural decisions that drive performance and reliability in modern exchanges
- Interoperability and API Strategy
- Build – Buy Practical Session
- Case Study Session
Dr. Richard L. Sandor will deliver the keynote at Tech Day 2025. Widely recognised as the "Father of Financial Futures" and "Father of Carbon Trading," Dr. Sandor’s groundbreaking work has shaped markets from Chicago to China — from the birth of electronic trading to the frontier of environmental finance.
Whether you’re an exchange technologist, policy thinker, or financial futurist, this is a keynote not to miss.
Agenda
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2025
09:00 - 09:05Conference Welcoming Remarks
- Pat Kenny, Chairman, Association of Futures Markets
- James Downs, Founder & CEO, Connamara Technologies
09:05 - 09:30Fire-side Chat
- Dr. Richard Sandor, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Environmental Financial Products
- Patrick L. Young, Chairman, Revolution Market Capital
09:30 - 10:30Session 1: Setting the Scene: What to expect from exchange solutions/systems
This panel as the kick off session for the day will discuss in detail the expectations exchanges have of the solutions and systems they operate, how they are expected to perform, the flexibility to adapt to change and critical success factors to consider. As exchange operators, they will share their own technology experiences and what they expect as key drivers of technology of the future.
Moderator: Pat Kenny, CQG
Panelists:- Julie Winkler, Chief Financial Officer, CME
- Brett Harrison, CEO, Architect X
- Others to be confirmed
10:30 - 11:00Coffee/Tea and Networking
11:00 - 11:45Session 2: Scaling: Explore the architectural decisions that drive performance and reliability in modern exchanges.
This panel will dive into innovations in matching engines, low latency infrastructure, and strategies for ensuring uptime in the face of high volumes and unexpected interruptions.
Moderator: TBD
Panelists:- Matheus Kroef, CTO, Forecast Ex
- Magnus Almqvist, CEO, Exberry
- Others to be confirmed
11:45 - 12:30Session 3: Interoperability and API Strategy
Market infrastructure is no longer a silo. This panel will examine how exchanges are open, developer friendly platform that integrate with brokers, vendors and digital asset infrastructure to create a vibrant exchange ecosystem.
Moderator: Dan Davis, Head of Growth, Connamara Technology
Panelists:- Dewald Marais, STT
- Jason Shaffer, TT
- Others to be confirmed
12:30 - 14:00Lunch and Networking
14:00 - 15:00Session 4: Build – Buy Practical Session
Exchanges briefly present their tech/vendors decision
Moderator: Chris Sturgess, AFM President
Panelists:- Vuyo Mpumza, Manager, Commodities | Commodity Markets, JSE
- Craig Cohen, Head of Americas Sales, SGX Group (TBC)
- Chris Dorougidenis, Project Manager, Vermiculus Financial Technology
- Akintunde Akinyinka, President, AFEX Nigeria
- Others to be confirmed
15:00 - 15:30Coffee/Tea and Networking
15:30 - 16:45Session 5: Case Study Session
Moderator: TBD
Speakers:- Kevin Darby, Vice President, CQG
- Robert Whitmore, NASDAQ (TBC)
- Others to be confirmed
16:45 - 17:00Conclusions, Farewell
Speakers
Dr. Richard Sandor
Chairman of the Board
Environmental Financial Products
Pat Kenny
Senior Vice President of client relations for CQG, AFM Chairman
Patrick Young
Founder, Exchange Invest
Julie Winkler
Project Manager
CFO, CME
Chris Sturgess
President of the Association of Futures Markets
James Downs
CEO
Connamara Technologies
Chris Dorougidenis
Project Manager
Vermiculus Financial Technology
Daniel Davis
Head of Growth
Connamara Technologies
Kevin Darby
Vice President, CQG Inc
Vuyo Mpumza
Manager, JSE
Dewald Marais
STT
Magnus Almqvist
CEO, Exberry
Jason Shaffer
Chief Platform Officer, TT
Alex Mirarchi
Head of Business Development, AWS
Sponsors
For sponsorship opportunities please contact conference@afmorg.net.
We appreciate the financial support of our Sponsors:
Our Silver Sponsors
Vermiculus Financial Technology AB provides cutting-edge trading, clearing, and CSD solutions to market participants around the world. Vermiculus’ solutions are the first to bring state-of-the-art advances in dynamic microservice architecture together with vast experience in clearing house, exchange, and CSD business requirements.
The company started its operation in 2020 and is founded by industry experts with the incentive to revolutionize the technology of exchanges, clearing houses, and CSDs. With its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Vermiculus consists of hand-picked teams, trained to deliver mission-critical solutions. With decades of accumulated knowledge and expertise, the team has previously completed 75+ projects for the world’s largest exchanges, clearing houses, and CSDs. https://www.vermiculus.se/
AFM’s prime mandate is to promote and encourage the establishment of new derivatives markets via organising international conferences and facilitating dialogue among member and partner organisations.
Connamara Technologies builds future-ready exchange platforms and order matching engines designed for speed, scale, and flexibility. Connamara Tech is the company behind EP3, the asset- and market-agnostic exchange platform and order matching engine conceived and incubated at Connamara Systems, a leader in capital market trading solutions since 1998.
Connamara Technologies is backed by a team of experienced software engineers, business analysts, fintech leaders, and seasoned professionals who truly understand the real-world demands of today’s exchange platforms and matching engines. With more experience than anyone in the industry, we enable big ideas and continue to innovate better to serve the needs of today’s capital markets. https://www.connamara.tech/
Our Bronze Sponsors
Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX), established in 1997, provides a wide range of futures and options products in equity indices, equities, FX and commodities. TAIFEX has continuously enhanced its technology and services in trading, clearing and settlement to ensure a fair and orderly marketplace. With a vision to be a world-class exchange befitting the fast-evolving marketplace, TAIFEX is poised to extend its global reach and stands as a primary derivatives exchange in Asia. For further details, please visit TAIFEX website at www.taifex.com.tw.
CQG is the industry’s highest-performing solution for integrated trade routing, global market data, and advanced technical analysis tools. CQG partners with more than one hundred Futures Commission Merchant environments and provides Direct Market Access to more than forty-five exchanges through its worldwide network of co-located CQG Hosted Exchange Gateways. CQG’s market data feed consolidates data from over seventy-five sources.
For more info: https://www.cqg.com/
