Tradeweb Retail's technology is based on a highly connected, highly available, and secure architecture.
Connectivity
Tradeweb Retail clients can connect in a number of different ways. Distributor clients (purchasers of securities) and contributor clients (sellers of securities) can log in through the http://www.tradewebretail.com/ website, which is regularly updated and enhanced using the latest C# .NET 3.5 technology. Distributor reps and traders use the website to search for offerings, create offer sheets and ladders, and submit orders and RFQ. Contributor traders use the website to monitor and maintain their offerings and respond to orders and RFQ.
Alternatively, distributor and contributor clients can use industry-standard FIX interfaces to provide and access Tradeweb Retail's liquidity. Distributor clients can subscribe to real-time offerings and submit orders and RFQ through FIX. Contributor clients can publish real-time offerings and respond to orders and RFQ through FIX.
Since every client can choose its own method of connectivity, Tradeweb Retail brings counterparties together in a variety of ways: GUI to GUI, FIX to FIX, FIX to GUI, and GUI to FIX.
Although web browsers and FIX are the preferred methods of connectivity, Tradeweb Retail also provides alternatives such as FTP and web services. In addition, Tradeweb Retail has connected to clients' proprietary APIs.
High Availability
Tradeweb Retail's multi-tiered architecture is built on Tradeweb's institutional-strength in-memory pricing engines. These scalable engines achieve high throughput and low latency even during busy markets. Total separation of pricing and trading and a large amount of spare capacity further ensure that our clients' experience is never impacted during busy markets.
Every layer of Tradeweb Retail's architecture is designed to be fault tolerant, as it leverages clustered databases, message persistence, and redundant servers. Tradeweb Retail maintains an off-site disaster recovery (DR) datacenter and conducts regular DR exercises.
Security
Tradeweb Retail's web site uses 128 bit SSL encryption. Clients using Tradeweb Retail's front end can access the web site using industry-standard SAML authentication.