So, the sun has set on TradeTech FX 2024 in Amsterdam. As always it was a great event, well attended and with some lively discussions.

Financial market infrastructure was a big topic of conversation with T+1 and the Global Code being discussed on several panels. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank participated in one panel that considered the second iteration of the FX Global Code, due to be published in October. They highlighted that this would focus on three main areas – addressing settlement risk, getting greater traction with the buy-side, and market data issues.

Of the three themes discussed, the one which most interested me was the renewed effort to increase buy-side support for the Code. So far, banks and trading venues have led the way in signing-up, followed by asset managers and to a lesser extent corporates. The biggest challenge now for the Global FX Committee (GXFC), which brings together central banks and market participants to promote a fair and transparent FX market, is to raise the profile of the Code, particularly amongst this latter group many of which are not even aware that it exists.

To gain traction with the buy-side, the GXFC has built a Proportionality Self Assessment tool, which helps them to work out which part of the Code is most relevant to them. The ECB said that thus far, this has not led to an increase in engagement amongst the buy-side, not because corporates are not interested in the Code, but because they don’t know anything about it. This was corroborated by research from Coalition Greenwich which showed that 66% of corporate end users are not even aware of the Code’s existence.

This is because just building something will not drive interest – you need to tell people about it, particularly when a target group comprises multiple disparate audiences.

How is this best achieved? By raising awareness through an integrated marketing communications campaign which should comprise a mix of tools such as digital marketing, thought leadership content, and media relations – all working together to amplify the message.

Before starting to communicate, overarching key messages should be developed that explain what problems are being solved and the benefits being delivered by the product or service. This messaging should then be tailored to different client segments as appropriate.

Using the Code as an example, for corporates, the benefits of signing up are demonstrating best practice and good ethics in treasury operations as well as the ability to achieve efficiencies by accessing a broader set of counterparties.

Once these key messages are established, the next step is to communicate to target audiences across multiple channels and in doing this it’s important to recognise that people find information from a diverse range of sources.

So, this might be highly influential print media which are relevant to different client segments such as treasury or asset management. It could be digital channels such as your own website, video and social networks too. And don’t forget, ‘offline’ events such as live events and in-person experiences.

Employing the right mix of channels a to tell your story adds value and is critical to future success.

The final part of the process should be to evaluate engagement levels across the various channels and adjust the communications campaign as needed.

It’s said that ‘if you build it, they will come’, but the lack of buy-side traction on the Global Code highlighted at last week’s event shows that without a sustained communications campaign to raise awareness of what you have built, that is not necessarily the case. In many cases building it is the easy part – creating demand is the real challenge.

Let’s see how successful the industry has been at achieving this goal at TradeTech FX 2025!