FX Trading Platform | Connector for FX Connect
Capture, archive, and surveil FX Connect chat within Shield’s end-to-end eComms compliance platform. Ensure every conversation behind every trade is preserved, searchable, and surveillance-ready.
What Is the Shield Connector for FX Connect?
FX Connect, part of State Street’s GlobalLink suite of e-trading platforms, is one of the most widely used FX execution venues for institutional investors worldwide. Used daily across more than 250 trading desks in over 30 cities, FX Connect supports the complete FX trading lifecycle from pre-trade order management and execution through to post-trade settlement. It covers spot, forwards, swaps, and non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) across more than 300 currency pairs.
As FX Connect has evolved from a straightforward execution venue into a deeply integrated, end-to-end trading workflow platform, the communications and data it generates have become central to regulatory compliance. Every negotiation, order instruction, trade confirmation, and post-trade communication that flows through FX Connect is potentially in scope for capture, archiving, and surveillance under MiFID II, MAR, Dodd-Frank, and equivalent regulations globally.
Shield’s connector for FX Connect ingests chat messages and associated metadata directly from FX Connect, delivering it into Shield’s compliance platform for AI-powered surveillance and archiving. Compliance teams gain full visibility over FX Connect activity in context alongside every other communication channel their firm uses without switching between platforms or relying on manual processes.
Regulatory Coverage
FX Connect chat and communications data is subject to regulatory capture, retention, and surveillance requirements under multiple frameworks. The Shield FX Connect connector supports compliance with:
- MiFID II (Article 16(7) and Article 25) — requiring investment firms to record and retain electronic communications related to orders and transactions, including those that do not result in execution, for a minimum of five years, with trade reconstruction capability within three days
- Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) — requiring firms to monitor communications for indicators of insider trading, front-running, and market manipulation across FX and other asset classes
- Dodd-Frank Title VII (CFTC 17 CFR § 23.202) — requiring swap dealers and major swap participants to maintain daily trading records and recorded communications that constitute a complete audit trail for trade reconstruction, broken down by counterparty
- CFTC Regulation 1.35 — requiring the retention of records pertaining to transactions in commodity interests, including written communications such as emails and instant messages
- SEC Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 — applicable to broker-dealers, requiring capture, preservation, and production of electronic records in WORM-compliant format
- FINRA Rules 4511 and 3110 — requiring member firms to archive all communications relating to their “business as such,” with supervision and written procedures in place
- GDPR and applicable data privacy regulations — Shield’s architecture supports data residency requirements and privacy-compliant data handling across jurisdictions
Other Related Connectors
Shield’s connector portfolio spans the full range of eComms channels and trading platforms used across regulated financial institutions:
- Bloomberg IB and Bloomberg Mail
- Microsoft Teams
- WhatsApp (Business)
- Symphony
- Zoom
- Voice and turret communications
- Email (Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Gmail)
- Mobile (SMS/MMS)
All connectors feed into a single unified compliance platform, so FX Connect data is always reviewed in the context of every other channel your traders and counterparties use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does FX Connect have native long-term compliance archiving? FX Connect does not provide a built-in, long-term regulatory compliance archive. Firms need a third-party capture and archiving solution — such as Shield — to meet the recordkeeping, supervision, and trade reconstruction requirements of MiFID II, MAR, Dodd-Frank, and FINRA applicable to FX Connect communications.
What data types does Shield capture from FX Connect? Shield captures FX Connect chat messages, communications, file attachments, and the full metadata layer — including user identifiers, timestamps, counterparty data, and message IDs. Data is collected directly from FX Connect to preserve chain of custody and ensure
Which regulations does the Shield FX Connect connector help firms comply with? The Shield FX Connect connector supports compliance with MiFID II, MAR, Dodd-Frank Title VII, CFTC Regulation 1.35, SEC Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4, FINRA Rules 4511 and 3110, and applicable data privacy regulations including GDPR.
How does Shield handle FX-specific trader language and jargon? Shield’s FCR engine applies NLP models specifically trained on financial services language — including FX shorthand, instrument-specific terminology, and market jargon. This contextual understanding reduces false positive alerts and ensures that genuine risk signals in FX Connect communications are identified accurately, even when they are expressed in informal or coded language.
The page already has 4 FAQs, two of which are product-specific (mentioning Shield by name). Here are 5 additional ones written generically, channel-focused:
What types of communications on FX Connect are in scope for regulatory capture? Any communication that relates to an order, negotiation, trade instruction, or post-trade process is generally considered in scope — regardless of whether that communication resulted in an execution. This includes pre-trade chat, order amendments, trade confirmations, and settlement-related messages. Regulators have consistently taken a broad view of what constitutes a recordable communication on electronic trading platforms, and FX Connect activity should be treated accordingly.
Does the obligation to capture FX Connect communications apply even to trades that don’t execute? Yes. Under MiFID II in particular, the recordkeeping obligation applies to communications that are intended to lead to a transaction, not only those that result in one. A negotiation that breaks down, a rejected order, or an indicative quote discussion are all potentially in scope. Compliance programs that only capture executed trade communications risk leaving a significant gap in their regulatory record.
How should FX Connect data be handled when traders operate across multiple platforms simultaneously? This is one of the more operationally complex challenges in FX compliance. Traders frequently conduct related conversations across FX Connect, Bloomberg IB, voice, and messaging platforms — sometimes within the same workflow. A complete compliance record requires that all of these channels be captured and stored in a way that allows investigators to reconstruct events across platforms. Siloed, channel-by-channel archiving makes this kind of cross-channel reconstruction slow and unreliable.
How long must FX Connect communications be retained? Retention requirements vary by jurisdiction and regulatory framework. MiFID II requires a minimum of five years for communications related to orders and transactions. Dodd-Frank and CFTC rules require swap dealers to maintain records for a minimum of five years, with certain records held for longer. SEC Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 require a six-year minimum for broker-dealers. Firms operating across multiple jurisdictions typically need to apply the most stringent applicable standard across their entire archive.
What should firms look for when evaluating FX-specific surveillance coverage? FX markets operate with a high degree of informality — traders use shorthand, abbreviations, and market-specific terminology that generic surveillance tools often misinterpret. Effective surveillance coverage for FX Connect communications requires models that understand the financial context of the conversation, not just keyword matching. False positive rates are a key indicator of surveillance quality: systems that generate excessive irrelevant alerts consume compliance resource without improving risk detection, and can actually increase the likelihood that genuine misconduct goes unnoticed.