Thanks, Mike. And I appreciate the opportunity today and appreciate your efforts and the collective efforts around this rule. I know it's taking a considerable amount of time and focus over the past few months. I think after a lot of that effort, we did get a bit more clarity and guidance around how this rule will impact the fixed income markets and how broker, dealers, clients alike need to operate with this rule in mind. And when you look at ICE Bonds, being an ATS or a series of ATS platforms through ICE Credit Trade, Bond Point, and TMC, it definitely had us concerned about what the impact would be. And we are obviously mindful of liquidity potentially ceasing for a while as people evaluated how this rule impacted their day to day operations.

And I think what I'd add there is the SEC is just looking at ways to further electronify the market, not impede the good progress that has been made over the past few years, so I think it's key that they're not looking to enforce and they're not looking to examine. And I think as firms show good faith and work towards implementing a solution, I think that will bode well and go a long way with the commission.

Yeah. We have a lot in our priority queue. And as you mentioned in your kind introduction, ICE is very uniquely positioned and we have a number of different assets within our portfolio. I can probably spend the whole podcast talking through, but I figured we'd just focus on a few key themes, and one of those being the intersection of execution and data is becoming more and more transparent, especially over the course of the pandemic. And the key theme that we hear and see is: How can we help our counter parties do more with less? And one of those has to do with helping them get key market data or data and analytics into their various platforms, or what we call upstream integration.

When you look at the way that ICE has ventured into the fixed income space through the acquisition of IDC and then the acquisitions of Bond Point and TMC, we are very uniquely positioned in bringing together a very broad range of solutions for fixed income trading and risk management. By pooling together various assets across the execution, our strengths in muni as well as the data side, we feel we bring a very unique proposition compared to some of our peers. And you're starting to see that resonate with our subscriber base as we start to pull together our various data offerings alongside execution.

Yeah. It's been an interesting journey. When you dig back to, call if February or March of 2020, and being that we're almost two years into that, I remember before we left, we thought we'd be leaving the city for a week or two, and we'd reconvene. And hard to believe, two years later. I'd say it was relatively seamless. And we within ICE, but I think the collective industry has proven that we can operate in an environment where teams are separated and logistics are fractured, when historically people were afraid that it would not work. And that's why there was hesitation to kind of give that flexibility.

Yeah, so we initially started, which was the common rotational colors or numbered teams, but as the pandemic became more intense in the early days, we went to a full work from home model. And then ICE has been really accommodating throughout the whole pandemic in giving flexibility, but it's etched in our DNA that the collaboration and the camaraderie of being together in an office. So we have opened our offices. We were doing a mandatory Tuesday, Thursday rotation to have everybody come together to have meetings, to have that collaboration, and then separate for a few days to social distance and get back to kind of that hybrid style.

Yeah. I think as you look at fixed income markets, as it pertains to ICE Bonds and our customer segment, there was a pullback in liquidity as people evaluated which instruments to invest in. But you're starting to see that come back as we're going into a changing rate environment. But I think when you look at the fixed income market in general, more and more electronification, the advent of portfolio trading as a way to manage and off lay risk is becoming a staple in the ecosystem. The growth of fixed income ETFs over the past few years has been exponential, and that's playing a part in the growth of certain fixed income electronification.

I think it's kind of twofold. I think there's the execution side. And there are a number of areas where we feel we can enter into and offer a compelling solution to some of the incumbents. But I think when you look at the broader picture, it's growth in institutional trading, which is not something that historically ICE has been involved in. But with our technology and data, we're making inroads to that segment of the market. Piggybacking off of the strong foundation that we have through our unique ATS liquidity, through that retail wealth network that we've created through the acquisitions of Bond Point and TMC.

Yeah. It is a segment of the market that has been slower to adopt. I think we're starting to see signs of that transition. Historically, part of the driver and reason for that why the market's been slower to transition away from voice to electronic had to do with the larger bid ask spreads compared to some other products. And there was just that maintaining of that legacy way of executing. We're starting to see more institutional activity come into the muni space, especially with the growth of taxable muni products. And we believe that over time, especially as things start to open up with the changing rate environment, see more institutional activity and the muni space.

No, I don't think it is. As a matter of fact, individuals within my team are already starting to work to prepare for this. There are some segments of the market, the treasury space, that already settled T plus one. And there is already flexibility from a trading perspective to manage different settlement dates. I think where the bigger impact will be is on the backend, and making sure the respective custodians, prime brokers, and most importantly, the clearinghouses, they are set up for this.

It's a good question. I think growing regulation is always a concern, and just being mindful of what the regulators may be thinking. So it's ensuring that you have an open and constructive dialogue so there are no surprises akin to what happened with 15c2-11, and making sure that people are aware of regulation that's coming down the pipe. The growing proliferation of platforms and what does that do the market, there are plenty of platforms that are popping up, protocols are becoming commoditized, so people are seeking other avenues of execution.

Listen, I think you guys have been extremely valuable in a number of aspects, but most recently, obviously 15c2-11. But I think it's continuing to work with the industry to identify ways and for advocacy to help bring more stability to the fixed income markets, and position the industry to have a better path towards more electronification, and trying to break down hurdles that may exist that are preventing that growth. I think everybody is keen on making these markets more efficient from an operational perspective, a risk perspective, and economic perspective. And I think firms and institutions such as BDA, can play an instrumental part in helping, using the cliché, herd the collective cats to come to a solution. I think there's some things percolating about from a regulatory perspective, whether it be new rules around derivative trading in the fixed income space, or advocacy and guidance to make sure that there's a cohesive view message.

My pleasure, and our pleasure to take part in this. And we appreciate BDA and your partnership throughout the years.