Welcome to the latest edition of At the Forefront: Fintech Conversations!
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In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Jim Toes, President and CEO of the Security Traders Association (STA), ahead of the organization’s 93rd annual Market Structure Conference this October in Washington, D.C. Jim shares what’s shaping this year’s event, themed “The Future in Focus,” and how STA’s grassroots roots continue to drive its mission of education, advocacy and community.
The conversation opens with what makes STA distinct among trade associations: its membership is built around individuals rather than firms, shaping its focus on career-oriented education and advocacy with regulators and lawmakers on market structure issues.
Jim and Sam then dig into what’s behind this year’s conference theme. Jim points to a recent memorandum of understanding between the SEC and CFTC as a milestone moment of coordination between the two agencies, arriving as tokenization, prediction markets and AI increasingly intersect with traditional asset classes. He explains why familiar panel topics like options and electronic trading will look different this year, reflecting how those markets are adapting to competition from these emerging forces. Rather than the strike proliferation or algo-wheel discussions of past years, panels will instead address how options are competing with prediction markets and how tokenized securities might eventually trade on electronic platforms.
The discussion also touches on STA’s grassroots structure, with 16 affiliates across the U.S. and four in Canada that give the organization reach across different regions and business models. Jim explains how ideas tend to originate at the affiliate level before scaling nationally, strengthening STA’s ability to advocate with regulators and lawmakers. Two of the year’s community highlights round out the conversation: the Greenwood Project, STA’s 2026 charity partner focused on career pathways for Black and Latino college students, and expanded programming for the Women in Finance Symposium and STA Young Professionals Forum.
For more conversations with fintech and capital markets leaders, explore the At the Forefront podcast archive or our YouTube channel.
To learn more about STA or register for the Market Structure Conference this October in Washington, D.C., visit securitytraders.org.
TLDR
1:00 – What makes STA’s individual-membership model unique
2:00 – The SEC-CFTC MOU and why regulatory coordination matters now
4:00 – Why this year’s panels won’t be typical
7:15 – STA’s grassroots model and giving back through the Greenwood Project