The following is a guest editorial courtesy of Osman Rafiq, Chief Technology Officer at Finalto, an innovative prime brokerage that provides bespoke fintech and liquidity solutions. Finalto deliver best-in-class pricing, execution and prime broker solutions across multiple assets, including CFDs on Equities, Indices, Commodities, Cryptos and rolling spot FX, Precious and Base Metals, and bespoke products such as NDFs.

Finalto’s proprietary trading platform recently processed its one-billionth trade, a remarkable milestone. It’s a good opportunity to reflect on some of the lessons learned in the development process.

Finalto’s integrated technology suite, ClearVision, is an ecosystem for liquidity management, client onboarding, risk monitoring, and multi-asset trading. Its scale and complexity are what make the system so capable, but they also introduce meaningful challenges for the teams building and continually refining it.

Here are some key lessons we’ve learned along the way about making software that makes a real-world impact, consistently.

Execution is everything

One of the core truths of advanced software development is that execution matters most. At Finalto, innovation and creativity are central to how we work, and our development process is both responsive – coordinating across teams, incorporating specialist input, and listening closely to client needs – and proactive, anticipating market evolution and clients’ future requirements. But coming up with great ideas is the easy part. The real test is turning them into real-world solutions. Innovation may be part of our DNA, but ultimately our success is measured by what we deliver, not what we imagine.

A question of balance

“Move fast and break things” might work in Silicon Valley, but it has no place in financial services. Regulatory expectations are only part of the story, the real challenge is to deliver precise, reliable execution every single time. At the same time, client needs evolve quickly, and if every new requirement is bolted on reactively, even the best platform can become rigid.

Our goal is to stay innovative without compromising stability. We aim to deliver new capabilities while keeping the foundations solid. In practice, our guiding principle is simple: move fast with confidence.

Crucially, this principle is embedded in how we engineer the platform. To stay adaptable, we invest heavily in automated testing and continuous integration pipelines so new features can be deployed without disrupting existing workflows. Our engineers design and maintain these tests themselves, using thousands of scenarios to validate every change before it reaches production.

This balance of speed and precision enables us to evolve rapidly without compromising on reliability, stability and accountability.

It also ensures that our offering is genuinely aligned with the needs of our sector. For example, we’re able to provide clients with a fully integrated white label solution that’s purpose-built for the markets in which they operate.

The in‑house advantage

Inhouse development isn’t the right path for every organisation. It requires long term investment, a clear technology strategy, and a commitment to taking full ownership of the platform’s evolution.

But in businesses where flexibility, reliability, and the ability to adapt quickly are essential, in‑house development can offer a genuine competitive advantage. However, these benefits don’t appear automatically. They depend on development practices that ensure systems are fit for their highly demanding purpose, meeting client preferences, regulatory expectations, and the evolving demands of the market.

At Finalto, our proprietary technology and in‑house expertise give ClearVision the ability to evolve in step with the business, rather than on a vendor’s release timetable. Our systems adapt as our strategy shifts and as markets change.

At the same time, we are strategic about what we build. Our wider tech stack incorporates a number of trusted partners, and we continually deploy best-in-class software to automate functions where appropriate, always in ways that enhance productivity, support reliability, and ensure the highest standards of compliance and regulatory reporting.

Lessons from the real world

A billion trades later, one lesson stands out: proven platforms don’t come from grand strategy, but from steady execution, careful engineering, and an ability to adapt without compromising on stability and trust. These principles remain constant for anyone building technology expected to endure. Here’s to a billion trades more.

All opinions, news, research, analysis, prices or other information is provided as general market commentary and not as investment advice and all potential results discussed are not guaranteed to be achieved. The information may have been derived from publicly available sources, company reports, personal research, or surveys. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Trading carries risk of capital loss. Service available to professional clients only.