The FIX Trading Community has confirmed that its EMEA conference set to take place this Thursday in London has been postponed to protect the wellbeing of its delegates and speakers in light of coronavirus.
FIX said that it hopes to rearrange the conference to a date most likely in Autumn this year, and all tickets will automatically be valid for the rearranged date.
While there has been no directive to cancel following advice from the government, FIX added the number of its member firms that have implemented certain travel restrictions on staff has increased significantly, while the recent volatility in markets could also prevent others from attending.
“We have immense pride in both the quality of the content and of the delegates who attend our annual flagship conference, however we recognise that due to the current exceptional circumstances, going ahead with the conference risks impacting our speakers and delegates,” the FIX Trading Community said.
“The welfare of our delegates is of the utmost importance… We now find ourselves in a situation where many of our member firms have implemented attendance and travel restrictions meaning that a significant number of our participants are no longer able to attend.”
The FIX Trading Community Conference is the latest industry event to be cancelled or postponed in light of the spread of coronavirus across Europe. Last week, the UK’s financial regulator and the Bank of England said they are assessing contingency plans of firms in the industry to combat the impact of an outbreak.
Elsewhere, the Futures and Industry Association’s (FIA) flagship annual Boca conference was also postponed due to concerns around the health and wellbeing of delegates. It was supposed to take place in Florida on 10-12 March.
TradeTech Europe at this stage, however, will still go ahead as planned on 21-23 April in Paris. A statement on the event’s website reads that the conference organisers will implement various safety measures, as it continues to monitor the situation.