Sungard extends buy-side suite in US, Europe

IT firm Sungard’s acquisition of trading technology company GL TRADE will give European buy-side firms better access to Sungard’s trading product suite and allow Sungard’s US buy-side clients to tap brokers in Europe and Asia.

A senior executive at Sungard’s Global Trading division, the unit formed from GL TRADE, told theTRADEnews.com that the firms’ integration would allow Sungard to expand its European buy-side client base by using GL TRADE’s European distribution for its trading products.

Yassine Brahim, segment president of Global Trading at Sungard, told a press conference in London yesterday that the acquisition, completed in November last year, will also enable Sungard’s US buy-side clients to broaden their investment horizons.

“The US buy-side community wants to move into Europe and Asia,” said Brahim. “GL TRADE is bringing a brokerage community that is very important to Sungard’s buy-side community.”

Users of Sungard’s existing trading tools, which include the Brass order management system and a range of market access tools, are predominantly used US buy-side firms, while GL TRADE’s client base is more heavily weighted to the sell-side in Europe and Asia. The acquisition will grant Sungard’s clients use of GL Net, an order routing and execution network of more than 300 brokers that provides direct market access to over 140 markets. Clients can also use brokers’ algorithms via GL Net.

EU: Final end-of-waste criteria report emerges

The European commission's joint research centre (JRC) has published its final recommendations on how to define when certain waste streams that have undergone recovery cease to be waste under EU law.

Under the recently revised EU waste framework directive, the European commission must assess the need for so-called end-of-waste criteria for several waste streams.

The JRC proposes a general methodology and principles for defining end-of-waste criteria at EU level. It says the criteria should cover the input waste material, the recovery processes used, the quality of the resulting product and its potential applications.

The report recommends quality control procedures to ensure criteria are met and suggests impact assessment guidelines for deciding whether such criteria should be set in the first place. The report includes case studies on setting end-of-waste criteria for compost, scrap metal and recyclable aggregates.

The commission is expected to publish its proposals for possible end-of-waste criteria by the end of this year.

MiFID benefits “an illusion”, despite price improvement

Instinet Europe’s chief executive has claimed that many of MiFID’s benefits “are illusory to the end-investor”, despite the agency broker reporting that it had achieved an average of 5.72 basis points of price improvement for clients in Q4 2008.

“We pass all price improvement back to our customers,” asserted Instinet Europe’s Richard Balarkas. “But there are a whole host of models on the sell-side. There seems to be little appreciation on the buy-side of the opportunity cost of using a broker that internalises a large percentage of flow, compared to one that opens up to as many external venues as possible,” he said.

Price improvement is generally defined as the difference between execution price and the best quoted price on the primary exchange at a given time. Instinet Europe data is based only on executions that remove liquidity from MTFs over the period in question.

Instinet Europe said it routed nearly 28% of its European equity trades away from primary exchanges by value traded in Q4 2008. The agency broker was among the first sell-side firms to connect to the multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) launched last year: BATS Europe, Nasdaq OMX Europe, Turquoise and dark pool NYFIX Euro Millennium. During 2008, the firm also executed the first trade on SWX’s Swiss Block dark pool, launched its own MTF, BlockMatch, and, along with Credit Suisse, became the first broker in Europe to offer reciprocal dark pool access. Instinet Europe executed 35.42% of its trades in French, German, Dutch and UK stocks on MTFs in the final quarter of 2008.

Dark trading doubles in US despite volatility - Rosenblatt

US dark pool trading more than doubled in 2008, according to an analysis by boutique agency brokerage Rosenblatt Securities.

The latest edition of ‘Let there be light’, the firm’s monthly dark liquidity tracker, noted that trading activity in 18 of the most significant US dark pools accounted 8.9% of December 2008’s total consolidated equity volume, up from 4.04% in January. A handful of dark pools operational in December, however, either had not launched or did not report their figures to Rosenblatt during January.

The report particularly noted the success of Level ATS, which saw a 115% increase in volumes through the year, Knight Link (up 107.6%), Credit Suisse Crossfinder (116.9%). Direct Edge (270.7%) and Getco Execution Services, which has become the fourth largest dark pool in terms of average daily volume, in the US since its launch on 19 March.

According to Rosenblatt, Direct Edge’s Enhanced Liquidity Provider (ELP) programme, which aggregates non-displayed orders from other dark pools, and new ROUD and ROUE dark order types, were a major driver for the platform’s growth.

EU: Final end-of-waste criteria report emerges

The European commission's joint research centre (JRC) has published its final recommendations on how to define when certain waste streams that have undergone recovery cease to be waste under EU law.

Under the recently revised EU waste framework directive, the European commission must assess the need for so-called end-of-waste criteria for several waste streams.

The JRC proposes a general methodology and principles for defining end-of-waste criteria at EU level. It says the criteria should cover the input waste material, the recovery processes used, the quality of the resulting product and its potential applications.

The report recommends quality control procedures to ensure criteria are met and suggests impact assessment guidelines for deciding whether such criteria should be set in the first place. The report includes case studies on setting end-of-waste criteria for compost, scrap metal and recyclable aggregates.

InfoReach TMS to be deployed in global markets by Marco Polo Network

InfoReach, a trading technology provider, is to have its InfoReach trade management system (TMS) distributed in the emerging markets by Marco Polo Network, an electronic trading platform.

The InfoReach TMS manages equities, futures, options and foreign exchange and combines order-entry, rule-based trading, order management, and FIX connectivity in a single broker-neutral trading platform. It also has basket trading, order routing, pre- and post-trade allocations, advanced algorithms and real-time position monitoring capabilities.

“Firms in emerging markets require advanced tools to help them navigate a rapidly changing global marketplace,” said Allen Zaydlin, CEO, InfoReach. “They need best execution via a scalable and flexible trading platform. This partnership with Marco Polo Network enables our trading technology to be used and deployed in these markets.”

Marco Polo Network will also use the full InfoReach product to develop its proprietary algorithms for Brazil, Mexico and other active markets. It has been branded Logita, and has already been deployed to two clients.

Brazilian broker breaks new ground with Apama

Software provider Progress Apama has predicted strengthening Brazilian demand for algorithmic trading solutions after unveiling its first client in the country, broker Ágora Corretora de Titulos e Valores Mobiliaro.

Giles Nelson, senior director of strategy at Apama, Progress Software’s complex event processing and algorithmic trading tools division, said both buy- and sell-side firms in Brazil are increasingly interested in using trading algorithms to facilitate their strategies.

“Algorithmic trading in Brazil is getting a lot of interest at the moment,” Nelson told theTRADEnews.com. “Brazil’s economy has been growing quite quickly, the market is quite liberal in nature and there is an increased amount of electronic trading generally. Because there is not much history of using technology for trading, it is easy for firms to adopt algorithmic trading technology without interfering with legacy systems. That combination of circumstances means it is a fairly hot market for us at the moment.”

This week, Apama announced that Ágora Corretora, a subsidiary of Banco Bradesco, had chosen Apama’s complex event processing (CEP) platform to support algorithmic trading in its equities operation.

Sungard extends buy-side suite in US, Europe

IT firm Sungard’s acquisition of trading technology company GL TRADE will give European buy-side firms better access to Sungard’s trading product suite and allow Sungard’s US buy-side clients to tap brokers in Europe and Asia.

A senior executive at Sungard’s Global Trading division, the unit formed from GL TRADE, told theTRADEnews.com that the firms’ integration would allow Sungard to expand its European buy-side client base by using GL TRADE’s European distribution for its trading products.

Yassine Brahim, segment president of Global Trading at Sungard, told a press conference in London yesterday that the acquisition, completed in November last year, will also enable Sungard’s US buy-side clients to broaden their investment horizons.

“The US buy-side community wants to move into Europe and Asia,” said Brahim. “GL TRADE is bringing a brokerage community that is very important to Sungard’s buy-side community.”

Sungard extends buy-side suite in US, Europe

IT firm Sungard’s acquisition of trading technology company GL TRADE will give European buy-side firms better access to Sungard’s trading product suite and allow Sungard’s US buy-side clients to tap brokers in Europe and Asia.

A senior executive at Sungard’s Global Trading division, the unit formed from GL TRADE, told theTRADEnews.com that the firms’ integration would allow Sungard to expand its European buy-side client base by using GL TRADE’s European distribution for its trading products.

Yassine Brahim, segment president of Global Trading at Sungard, told a press conference in London yesterday that the acquisition, completed in November last year, will also enable Sungard’s US buy-side clients to broaden their investment horizons.

“The US buy-side community wants to move into Europe and Asia,” said Brahim. “GL TRADE is bringing a brokerage community that is very important to Sungard’s buy-side community.”

Users of Sungard’s existing trading tools, which include the Brass order management system and a range of market access tools, are predominantly used US buy-side firms, while GL TRADE’s client base is more heavily weighted to the sell-side in Europe and Asia. The acquisition will grant Sungard’s clients use of GL Net, an order routing and execution network of more than 300 brokers that provides direct market access to over 140 markets. Clients can also use brokers’ algorithms via GL Net.

InfoReach TMS to be deployed in global markets by Marco Polo Network

InfoReach, a trading technology provider, is to have its InfoReach trade management system (TMS) distributed in the emerging markets by Marco Polo Network, an electronic trading platform.

The InfoReach TMS manages equities, futures, options and foreign exchange and combines order-entry, rule-based trading, order management, and FIX connectivity in a single broker-neutral trading platform. It also has basket trading, order routing, pre- and post-trade allocations, advanced algorithms and real-time position monitoring capabilities.

“Firms in emerging markets require advanced tools to help them navigate a rapidly changing global marketplace,” said Allen Zaydlin, CEO, InfoReach. “They need best execution via a scalable and flexible trading platform. This partnership with Marco Polo Network enables our trading technology to be used and deployed in these markets.”

Marco Polo Network will also use the full InfoReach product to develop its proprietary algorithms for Brazil, Mexico and other active markets. It has been branded Logita, and has already been deployed to two clients.

ISE establishes alternative primary market maker programme

The International Securities Exchange (ISE) has established an alternative primary market maker program to support new listings. Under the programme, ISE's competitive market makers (CMM) will be eligible to serve as the primary market maker (PMM) in certain options products and will assume the associated quoting responsibilities and order allocation privileges.

By extending the number of firms who can act as PMMs, ISE is broadening the pool of potential liquidity providers eligible to support new product introductions.

Previously, the ISE was only able to introduce a new listing if an existing PMM expressed interest in quoting the product. With the new programme, existing PMMs retain the first right to any potential new listings but if no interest in quoting a new or existing product is shown, CMMs participants will have the opportunity to be designated as a PMM.

Lehman buy will make BarCap “one-stop” execution service

Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the UK’s Barclays Bank, said it plans to become a best-of-breed global multi-asset execution service provider following the acquisition of the North American assets of collapsed US bank Lehman Brothers.

“Our plan is to integrate the best of both worlds,” Frank Troise, head of equities electronic product trading at Barclays Capital, told theTRADEnews.com. “Barclays Capital has traditionally been strong in areas such as FX, commodities, futures and high-frequency electronic equities trading. All of these capabilities are extremely complementary to Lehman Brothers’ strengths in analytics, internalisation, smart routing and algorithms for equities and options.”

The combined trade execution offering has been up and running for four months, having been launched just weeks after the deal to buy Lehman’s North American assets was agreed. As part of the acquisition, BarCap inherited Lehman’s pre-trade analytics tool Web Bench, LX internal crossing network, algorithms, direct market access capabilities, FIX connections and trading platform.

BarCap claims that existing Lehman clients have been able to conduct business as usual, with clients of both banks now taking advantage of a wider range of services that cover more markets globally.

“We are seeing an increased client demand for a one-stop shop from electronic execution,” said Brian Fagen, co-head of Americas liquid market sales at Barclays Capital. “Going to separate providers for individual products was frustrating for our clients and makes this combination a great fit.”

LSE hires former Lehman exec to succeed Clara Furse

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has named Xavier Rolet, former head of investment bank Lehman Brothers’ French operation, as its next CEO, replacing Clara Furse.

Rolet will join the LSE’s group board on 16 March, and take the helm from Furse on 20 May, ending her eight-year tenure as the exchange’s CEO. Furse will remain a director of the group until its annual general meeting in July.

Rolet served as a senior executive of Lehman Brothers (Europe) – now owned by Japanese investment bank Nomura – between 2000 and 2008, most recently as CEO of Lehman France. Before joining Lehman, Rolet held senior equity trading positions at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs.

New Chi-X hires to facilitate platform growth

Chi-X Europe, the pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF), has added to its management team in preparation for the venue’s next stage of expansion.

“The appointments will make sure we have the right resources to deal with the growth of the platform and any challenges as they present themselves,” Peter Randall, CEO, Chi-X, told theTRADEnews.com.

Denzil Jenkins joins as director of regulation, having previously managed wholesale investment banking supervision projects at the UK’s Financial Services Authority. He was also responsible for the regulator’s team that supervised equity exchanges and MTFs, both before and after the implementation of MiFID.

“Denzil's appointment stems from the ever increasing interest from European and national regulators,” said Randall. “Ensuring we operate a fair and orderly market means we have to be ahead of the game when it comes to market surveillance.”

Customer, deal-maker, CEO: What will Rolet bring to LSE role?

Former Lehman Brothers France CEO Giles Rolet, who will take the helm of the London Stock Exchange from long-serving chief Clara Furse on 20 May, could be the shot in the arm the exchange needs to cope with its current challenges, according to market observers.

Rolet has a strong background in trade execution. Before his eight-year stint at Lehman Brothers (Europe), he held senior equity trading positions at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs. Some feel this experience could help the exchange weather the storm.

“Volumes are down everywhere and all trading venues are competing for a smaller pot,” said Bob McDowall research director for Europe at research and advisory firm TowerGroup. “In this environment, it is all about the basic issues of quality and speed of execution. The appointment shows that the exchange is a little rattled by the inroads that some of the alternative trading venues are making into blue-chip stocks.”

In recent months, the LSE, like other major European exchanges, has been rocked by competition from multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) and dwindling trading volumes and values. The average daily value of trades on the LSE fell 60% £6.2 billion in January 2009 from the record volumes seen in January 2008.

McDowall also expects Rolet to focus on resilience of the LSE’s systems. “The LSE clearly can’t have another outage as they did on 8 September last year. In that sense he is the right man for the times,” he said.

Credit Suisse AES forges derivatives links

Investment bank Credit Suisse’s Advanced Execution Services (AES) division, which supplies algorithms and trading tools to the buy-side, has expanded its derivatives capabilities by joining financial software firm Orc’s ExNet broker connectivity network and launching a joint offering with US options pricing and analytics firm Derivix.

AES’s new link with ExNet, which provides hedge funds, proprietary traders and other advanced traders access to liquidity pools, allows users of Orc’s trading systems to trade futures, options and cash equities using AES algorithms and market access.

“In particular, we have an advanced set of algorithms available in derivatives markets where Orc Software is well known,” said Guy Cirillo, global head of channel sales at Credit Suisse AES. “Now, Orc and Credit Suisse customers can together take advantage of our execution algorithms and market connections.”The joint solution with Derivix will allow the firm’s customers direct access to AES’s options and stock algorithms for use alongside Derivix’s options pricing and analytics. Using FIX connectivity, options traders will be able to access AES from within Derivix’s analytics front-end.

Nasdaq OMX installs low-latency Colombian trading platform

The Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC), Colombia’s domestic stock exchange, has launched a new high-speed cash equities trading system powered by Nasdaq OMX technology.

The new BVC system was introduced on 9 February and offers a high-volume, low-latency platform for market participants in Colombia.

The new engine will enable algorithmic and high-velocity traders to trade on the platform, as well as allowing the introduction of new trading products and services.

“Through our new equities system we are in a great position to grow business at our exchange and thus reach our 2015 goal of 200 new companies and 1.5 million Colombian families investing in our market,” said Juan Pablo Córdoba, president, BVC.

Brokers bidding against themselves in LCH battle

US post-trade processing firm Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's (DTCC) member-owned structure could complicate its battle to acquire European clearing house LCH.Clearnet.

The DTCC revealed its bid for LCH.Clearnet last October, but earlier this month a consortium of brokers, including inter-dealer broker ICAP, signalled its intention to launch a counter-offer. Many of the firms reportedly involved in the consortium either have significant US subsidiaries that are member-owners of DTCC, or, in the case of US institutions, are members themselves.

In challenging the DTCC for possession of LCH.Clearnet, consortium members are effectively competing with an organisation in which they collectively own a substantial stake.

“We don’t want get into a bidding situation where a firm is bidding against a branch of the same firm,” said a source familiar with the situation.

The brokers reported to be involved in the consortium with ICAP are BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale and UBS. ICAP is the only firm that has publicly confirmed its participation.

Trading Technologies upgrades derivatives platform

Trading Technologies (TT) has released X_TRADER 7.6, the latest version of its derivatives trading platform. The new version adds features designed to enhance functionality, usability, deployment and user administration.

“In this tough economy, traders are demanding more and more from their trading platforms,” said Harris Brumfield, CEO, TT, in a statement. “This new version of X_TRADER incorporates a number of enhancements and should give our customers an advantage.”

X_TRADER 7.6 improves performance across all major functional areas, including price updates, order handling, contract loading and workspace opening. The new version also benefits from TT’s upcoming PFX price protocol architecture, which is designed to maximise the speed of price delivery, minimise the size of price messages, reduce client interactions with the price server and achieve faster price recovery in network outages.

X_TRADER 7.6 also provides new ways to filter and manipulate the display of market data, price movements and specific trading activity.

Smart Trade liquidity management tool adopts CEP

Smart Trade Technologies has agreed a deal to integrate EsperTech’s complex event processing (CEP) capabilities into its smartTrade liquidity management system (LMS).

The smartTrade LMS is used by buy- and sell-side firms to manage liquidity for best execution, smart routing of orders across multiple asset classes and geographies, and tighter control of order flow for risk management purposes. The system comprises four elements: LiquidityAggregator; LiquidityCrosser; LiquidityOrchestrator, a smart-order router; and LiquidityConnect, which link to multiple execution venues.

EsperTech uses an open-source Java CEP engine that detects and correlates complex situations in real time when user-defined conditions occur among large volume event streams. CEP is used by financial market participants to identify and exploit trading patterns using streams of market data.

Asian investors cut broker relationships, execution fees - Greenwich

Asian institutional investors are prioritising sell-side research and advisory over execution services in volatile markets, while also cutting back their number of sell-side relationships, according a new report from consultancy Greenwich Associates.

The firm’s ‘Asian Equity Investors Study’ revealed that, among the largest trading institutions in Asia, the average number of sell-side relationships fell to 20.5 in 2008, from 24.5 in 2007.

The research also noted that a sharp decline in portfolio values and stock prices had shrunk the pool of institutions’ equity brokerage commission payments. Within these diminished pools, the proportion allocated to research, sales coverage and advisory services jumped 11 percentage points in 2008, to 66%, according to the study. This came at the expense of trading coverage and agency execution, which now accounts for to 26% of total commissions, down from one-third a year ago.

“The reversal of this trend does not mean there is less desire for superior execution, but rather that, in times of unprecedented market turmoil, the need for timely insights and access is even greater and the opportunity cost of not securing them is not something that investors want to risk,” said John Feng, consultant, Greenwich Associates.

Credit Suisse AES forges derivatives links

Investment bank Credit Suisse’s Advanced Execution Services (AES) division, which supplies algorithms and trading tools to the buy-side, has expanded its derivatives capabilities by joining financial software firm Orc’s ExNet broker connectivity network and launching a joint offering with US options pricing and analytics firm Derivix.

AES’s new link with ExNet, which provides hedge funds, proprietary traders and other advanced traders access to liquidity pools, allows users of Orc’s trading systems to trade futures, options and cash equities using AES algorithms and market access.

“In particular, we have an advanced set of algorithms available in derivatives markets where Orc Software is well known,” said Guy Cirillo, global head of channel sales at Credit Suisse AES. “Now, Orc and Credit Suisse customers can together take advantage of our execution algorithms and market connections.”

The joint solution with Derivix will allow the firm’s customers direct access to AES’s options and stock algorithms for use alongside Derivix’s options pricing and analytics. Using FIX connectivity, options traders will be able to access AES from within Derivix’s analytics front-end.

Nasdaq OMX installs low-latency Colombian trading platform

The Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC), Colombia’s domestic stock exchange, has launched a new high-speed cash equities trading system powered by Nasdaq OMX technology.

The new BVC system was introduced on 9 February and offers a high-volume, low-latency platform for market participants in Colombia.

The new engine will enable algorithmic and high-velocity traders to trade on the platform, as well as allowing the introduction of new trading products and services.

“Through our new equities system we are in a great position to grow business at our exchange and thus reach our 2015 goal of 200 new companies and 1.5 million Colombian families investing in our market,” said Juan Pablo Córdoba, president, BVC.

Brokers bidding against themselves in LCH battle

US post-trade processing firm Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's (DTCC) member-owned structure could complicate its battle to acquire European clearing house LCH.Clearnet.

The DTCC revealed its bid for LCH.Clearnet last October, but earlier this month a consortium of brokers, including inter-dealer broker ICAP, signalled its intention to launch a counter-offer. Many of the firms reportedly involved in the consortium either have significant US subsidiaries that are member-owners of DTCC, or, in the case of US institutions, are members themselves.

In challenging the DTCC for possession of LCH.Clearnet, consortium members are effectively competing with an organisation in which they collectively own a substantial stake.

“We don’t want get into a bidding situation where a firm is bidding against a branch of the same firm,” said a source familiar with the situation.

The brokers reported to be involved in the consortium with ICAP are BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale and UBS. ICAP is the only firm that has publicly confirmed its participation.

EuPC urges EU support for Plastics Processors

In a January message to the European plastics conversion industry, Alexandre Dangis, the Managing Director of the EuPC, outlined actions taken in a series of high-level meetings with the European Commission and the European Investment Bank to secure support for the industry and to highlight the strategic importance of the plastics conversion sector in a balanced manufacturing economy.



In December 2008 an EuPC delegation of European CEOs supplying the automotive industry visited the EU Commission DG Entreprise, Automotive Unit to highlight the critical situation facing the industry. ‘Thousands of job losses in the automotive supply chain and many bankruptcies are ongoing as the startup in January was very weak’ said Dangis.

Dangis’s message was that EU and Member State support for the automotive industry should also be made available to component suppliers because of the close integration of the supply chain and the strategic importance of retaining the skills of component manufacturers within the EU. ‘The financial crisis is now being followed by an industrial crisis and the EU Members States and the EU Commission need to assist all EU companies to navigate through these very difficult waters’ continued Dangis.

This was reinforced by a meeting held with members of the cabinet of Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission on January 16th. EuPC also had talks with the European Investment Bank on 21st January to ensure access to funding in the supply chain and Dangis invited a representative of the bank to attend EuPC’s National Plastics Association meeting to be held on March 10th. EuPC and EuPR, the European Plastics Recyclers’ Association, have been invited by the European Commission’s DG Environment to discuss the wider consequences of the economic difficulties on plastics recycling markets. The Commission has been appointed by the EU’s Council of Environment Ministers to provide solutions and actions in order to support recycling in this economic turmoil.

State of the Art Size reduction technology in operation at the NURRC PET bottle Recycling Plant

One of the world largest PET bottle recycling plant for food grade flakes has been opened at Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. The operation is a joint venture of URRC and Coca Cola named NURRC and will process 50.000 tons / year (output) of PET bottles at its final stage. This plant is not only a significant environmental benefit but with 100 newly created jobs also an advantage for the local community. NURRC uses the latest state of the art technology in processing post consumer PET bottles into food grade flakes.
The selected equipment supplier for the size reduction part is Herbold Meckesheim GmbH from Germany with a total of 6 units of its new series of forced feeding granulators. This new granulator series type SB offers key features of today’s demand for reliable, energy saving and highly productive recycling machinery.

uk: Sims opens £12m Newport WEEE recycling plant

Metal recycling giant Sims has officially opened its £12 million WEEE reprocessing facility in Newport, South Wales. The 100,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant was opened yesterday (February 9) in a ceremony attended by Rhodri Morgan, first minister at the Welsh Assembly Government.

Nasdaq OMX installs low-latency Columbian trading platform

The Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC), Columbia’s domestic stock exchange, has launched a new high-speed cash equities trading system powered by Nasdaq OMX technology.

The new BVC system was introduced on 9 February and offers a high-volume, low-latency platform for market participants in Columbia.

The new engine will enable algorithmic and high-velocity traders to trade on the platform, as well as allowing the introduction of new trading products and services.

“Through our new equities system we are in a great position to grow business at our exchange and thus reach our 2015 goal of 200 new companies and 1.5 million Colombian families investing in our market,” said Juan Pablo Córdoba, president, BVC.

“It is extremely rewarding to complete the second part of our deployment at BVC,” said Lars Ottersgård, head of market technology, Nasdaq OMX. “BVC now has a trading system for both equities and derivatives based on internationally recognised standards, putting them at the forefront of South American exchanges.”

Smart Trade liquidity management tool adopts CEP

Smart Trade Technologies has agreed a deal to integrate EsperTech’s complex event processing (CEP) capabilities into its smartTrade liquidity management system (LMS).

The smartTrade LMS is used by buy- and sell-side firms to manage liquidity for best execution, smart routing of orders across multiple asset classes and geographies, and tighter control of order flow for risk management purposes. The system comprises four elements: LiquidityAggregator; LiquidityCrosser; LiquidityOrchestrator, a smart-order router; and LiquidityConnect, which link to multiple execution venues. Smart Trade co-founder and CTO David Vincent said the deal meant customers would be able to rely on a domain-specific CEP for their smart order routing, crossing and aggregation strategies on top of already existing programmable rules within the smartTrade LMS.

CEP will also improve the rules applied within the smartTrade LMS to produce complex levels of aggregated depth, by generating indicators derived from the raw feeds, such as moving averages, correlation factors and other statistics.

Asian investors cut broker relationships, execution fees - Greenwich

Asian institutional investors are prioritising sell-side research and advisory over execution services in volatile markets, while also cutting back their number of sell-side relationships, according a new report from consultancy Greenwich Associates.

The firm’s ‘Asian Equity Investors Study’ revealed that, among the largest trading institutions in Asia, the average number of sell-side relationships fell to 20.5 in 2008, from 24.5 in 2007.

The research also noted that a sharp decline in portfolio values and stock prices had shrunk the pool of institutions’ equity brokerage commission payments. Within these diminished pools, the proportion allocated to research, sales coverage and advisory services jumped 11 percentage points in 2008, to 66%, according to the study. This came at the expense of trading coverage and agency execution, which now accounts for to 26% of total commissions, down from one-third a year ago.

“The reversal of this trend does not mean there is less desire for superior execution, but rather that, in times of unprecedented market turmoil, the need for timely insights and access is even greater and the opportunity cost of not securing them is not something that investors want to risk,” said John Feng, consultant, Greenwich Associates.

Greenwich said that the reduction in sell-side relationships was caused by more cautious buy-side attitudes, prompted in part by counterparty risk issues stemming from the collapse of Bear Stearns and a retreat back to familiar markets instead of expanding investment operations. The firm also cited an increase in the use of commission sharing agreements (CSA) in the region. Two-thirds of institutions said they planned to use CSAs within 12 months and 40% reported using CSA services in 2008.

Credit Suisse AES forges derivatives links

Investment bank Credit Suisse’s Advanced Execution Services (AES) division, which supplies algorithms and trading tools to the buy-side, has expanded its derivatives capabilities by joining financial software firm Orc’s ExNet broker connectivity network and launching a joint offering with US options pricing and analytics firm Derivix.

AES’s new link with ExNet, which provides hedge funds, proprietary traders and other advanced traders access to liquidity pools, allows users of Orc’s trading systems to trade futures, options and cash equities using AES algorithms and market access.

“In particular, we have an advanced set of algorithms available in derivatives markets where Orc Software is well known,” said Guy Cirillo, global head of channel sales at Credit Suisse AES. “Now, Orc and Credit Suisse customers can together take advantage of our execution algorithms and market connections.”

The joint solution with Derivix will allow the firm’s customers direct access to AES’s options and stock algorithms for use alongside Derivix’s options pricing and analytics. Using FIX connectivity, options traders will be able to access AES from within Derivix’s analytics front-end.

UK: Plastic Venture

European Metal Recycling in the United Kingdom has partnered with Richmond, Calif.-based MBA Polymers to launch a company that will build and operate a plastics recycling plant in the British town of Worksop. As part of the partnership, EMR will concentrate the plastics from the shredder residue that is produced from its metal recycling operation. The material, which would otherwise be incinerated or put in a landfill, will then be shipped to the joint-venture company, which will clean, sort, and upgrade the plastics. MBA will then sell the plastics to its customers.

Burgundy chooses EMCF, plans multi-clearer model

Burgundy, a multilateral trading facility for Nordic securities, has chosen European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) as its central counterparty (CCP), and is looking to add other clearers as the platform develops. Burgundy aims to start trading in Q2 this year and introduce full CCP clearing in October. Before then, participants will clear trades on the platform bilaterally.

“We have decided to open up to competitive clearing,” Olof Neiglick, CEO of Burgundy, told theTRADEnews.com. “Once the project matures, we will add more CCPs. Two additional clearing providers will be available in the Nordic market by the end of the year.”

Burgundy chose EMCF as its initial clearing provider based on the preferences of the banks and securities firms in the consortium that founded the platform. “A number of the banks are already members, so it had a first-mover advantage,” said Neiglick.

Burgundy’s shareholders are Avanza Bank, Danske Bank, D. Carnegie & Co, DnB NOR, Evli Bank, HQ Bank, Kaupthing Bank (Sweden), NeoNet, Nordea, Nordnet, SEB, Svenska Handelsbanken, Swedbank and Öhman.

Burgundy trades will be fully fungible with those conducted on other trading platforms connected to EMCF. “You will be able to buy a position on one platform and sell it on Burgundy, for example. That is extremely important for efficiency,” said Neiglick. “There is full netting and cross-clearing between all platforms connected to EMCF.”

FXall adds netting service to trading platform

Electronic foreign exchange trading platform FXall has launched Cross Currency Netting, a new feature enabling users to manage high-value multi-currency exposures in volatile markets. The new feature is part of the company’s commitment to improve its platform, which is used by institutional clients such as asset managers, corporate treasurers, hedge funds and banks.

Cross Currency Netting combines tools which help clients identify principal risks within a currency portfolio so they can be transferred to their chosen bank or custodian. The details are automatically processed by FXall’s integrated workflow and straight-through processing capabilities.

The new feature enables customers to consult their bank or custodian about the optimal trading strategy in a fully automated way and with a complete audit trail. FXall said this allows clients to operate more efficiently, use the expertise of their partners, and maintain a controlled, error-free environment.

“As an established and committed long-term partner, we are constantly investing in our platform to establish new products to best serve the needs of our clients,” said Phil Weisberg, CEO, FXall, in a statement. “Cross Currency Netting is one such initiative, allowing our clients to execute trades in the most efficient and cost-effective way.”

CCP deal brings European clearing competition closer

Europe’s biggest brokers welcomed last week’s announcements on interoperability between central counterparties (CCP) but admit it is only the first step towards an efficient clearing model for the pan-European market.

EMCF, which acts as the CCP for multilateral trading facilities (MTF) Chi-X, Nasdaq OMX Europe and BATS Europe, entered into a deal last week with Swiss clearer SIX x-clear to interoperate for those venues that choose to implement it.

So far, all MTFs that use EMCF have announced their intentions to add SIX x-clear as an alternative clearer. Turquoise, a broker-backed MTF, also told theTRADEnews.com that it is in discussions with its clearer, EuroCCP, to extend clearing options available to members.

However, the London Stock Exchange (LSE), which added SIX x-clear to LCH.Clearnet, its incumbent clearing house, last December and NYSE Euronext, which uses LCH.Clearnet across its European markets, said they have no plans to add to their current CCP offerings, in light of last week’s announcement. With SIX x-clear and EMCF agreeing interoperability, and SIX x-clear sharing CCP duties at the LSE, the day on which brokers can use a single CCP for accessing multiple major European exchanges and MTFs may have moved one step closer.

“The deal between EMCF and SIX x-clear is definitely a step in the right direction,” commented George Andreadis, head of AES liquidity strategy, Credit Suisse. “However, interoperability between clearing houses will become more valuable once the CCPs that account for the majority of market share follow suit.”

Smart Trade liquidity management tool adopts CEP

Smart Trade Technologies has agreed a deal to integrate EsperTech’s complex event processing (CEP) capabilities into its smartTrade liquidity management system (LMS).

The smartTrade LMS is used by buy- and sell-side firms to manage liquidity for best execution, smart routing of orders across multiple asset classes and geographies, and tighter control of order flow for risk management purposes. The system comprises four elements: LiquidityAggregator; LiquidityCrosser; LiquidityOrchestrator, a smart-order router; and LiquidityConnect, which link to multiple execution venues.

EsperTech uses an open-source Java CEP engine that detects and correlates complex situations in real time when user-defined conditions occur among large volume event streams. CEP is used by financial market participants to identify and exploit trading patterns using streams of market data.

Stena acquires stake in Italian WEEE recycler

A subsidiary of the Swedish recycling group Stena Metall has become the main shareholder of the Italian e-scrap management specialist S.i.a.t. (Societa Italiana Ambiente e Territorio) based near Brescia. "It is a strategic decision to strengthen our presence in Southern Europe. It also means that the collaboration with the European Recycling Platform is deepened", commented Phär Oscár, managing director of Stena Metall's WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) division Stena Technoworld. The company did not disclose financial details of the transaction, which also involves three Italian local authority-owned utility and environmental services companies.

Tires Recycled into Construction Blocks

A company called PMGI/Productive Recycling recently announced that it had devised a new method of disposing of discarded tires from the automotive industry. Roughly 300 million used tires are generated in the United States alone every year, and they amount to one of the most hard to solve problems the country is faced with it, from an environmental standpoint. Most of these tires reach the landfills, where they take up precious space, and also house different pests. In addition, they pose a very high fire hazard and release dangerous chemicals, including carbon dioxide, if they are burnt.

The managing Director of the company, Gerald Harrington, says "Scrap tires are not only a waste of valuable landfill space but a more serious waste of what is now a viable resource. To illustrate the magnitude of the used tire problem the governments, Solid Waste Management, reports indicate, there is one scrap tire produced for every three people in the United States.

EU Commission, industry clash over electronic waste collection

European Commission and business representatives squabbled over whether to make manufacturers pay for collecting consumers' waste yesterday (29 January), during a debate on the proposed review of an EU directive on recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

In one of the first public debates on the Commission's proposal to recast the WEEE Directive, business and Commission representatives clashed over the way to revise rules for old electronic products.
In the wake of the EU executive's proposal, published in December, electronic equipment manufacturers have already expressed concern that the review will result in added costs for business without no real trade-offs.

Meanwhile, the Commission refers to the review as "an opportunity for EU companies to innovate and have access to valuable raw materials" and underlines its intention to cut red tape and reduce related costs for industry.

Israeli company turns old rubber back into... rubber

Ever since Charles Goodyear invented a novel way to vulcanize rubber making it strong and stable for tires, scientists the world over have been searching for ways to reverse the process. Millions of tons of old tires and rubber waste collect in landfills -- their chemicals leaching into our groundwater. When tires burn, pollutants fire into the sky.

While some companies have discovered ways to turn vulcanized rubber into something else -- such as fuel -- an Israeli company, Levgum, believes it has developed the best solution yet: turning the rubber back into its principle components, for reuse.

"We can deal with any rubber waste: tires, old conveyer belts, rubber from mattresses, solid tiles, anything," Ran Zamir, Levgum's CEO, tells ISRAEL21c. Basically, he adds, the company can handle any rubber waste that has been sulphur cured -- curing being the process used to stabilize the rubber, and "invented by Mr. Goodyear," says Zamir.

EMCF “ready to service LSE flow”

European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF), the Dutch-regulated central counterparty that clears trades for three UK-regulated MTFs, has been granted recognised overseas clearing house (ROCH) status by the UK’s regulator, the Financial Services Authority. This will allow EMCF to act as a clearinghouse for regulated markets in the UK, including the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and enable it to cater for its existing MTF users should they wish to become full exchanges.

EMCF, which is regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), previously cleared for multilateral trading facilities (MTF) Chi-X, BATS Europe and Nasdaq OMX Europe under foreign exempt status. There is no regulatory requirement for EMCF to have ROCH status to clear for the MTFs, but because of the alternative venues’ growing market share, the FSA had become increasingly keen for EMCF to become an ROCH, according to Jan Bart de Boer, chairman of the clearing house’s supervisory board.

In theory, EMCF could now offer clearing services to the London Stock Exchange. “From a regulatory perspective, EMCF is now ready to service LSE flow,” said de Boer. “EMCF would now be able to do a deal with LCH.Clearnet [The LSE’s clearing house] and the LSE. The question is whether LCH and the LSE are willing to do a deal.”

New Hungarian MTF will have liquidity “from day one”

This summer will see the launch of yet another pan-European multilateral trading facility, Quote MTF, a Hungarian-based platform that will offer liquidity from third-party market-makers from launch.

Quote MTF is 60% majority-owned by BRMS Holdings, which already owns stakes in Canadian alternative trading venues SwiftTrade and Omega ATS. The firm is building its own proprietary trading system from scratch and has already agreed a deal with a central counterparty, which it expects to announce within a few weeks. Quote MTF’s projected Q2 launch could take the number of pan-European blue-chip MTFs to six, pending the launch of NYSE Arca Europe by exchange group NYSE Euronext, due to start trading in Q1 2009.

“We think we will have a number of factors that will differentiate us from the rest of market,” Gabor Kutas, member of the board, Quote MTF, told theTRADEnews.com. “We will have a different pricing model to the others, which we will elaborate on in due course, and will be among the most aggressive for paying liquidity sponsors, who will be making markets from day one. Additionally, there are no banks or incumbent exchanges with stakes in the platform, so there will be no political issues.”

Burgundy chooses EMCF, plans multi-clearer model

Burgundy, a multilateral trading facility for Nordic securities, has chosen European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) as its central counterparty (CCP), and is looking to add other clearers as the platform develops. Burgundy aims to start trading in Q2 this year and introduce full CCP clearing in October. Before then, participants will clear trades on the platform bilaterally.

“We have decided to open up to competitive clearing,” Olof Neiglick, CEO of Burgundy, told theTRADEnews.com. “Once the project matures, we will add more CCPs. Two additional clearing providers will be available in the Nordic market by the end of the year.”

Burgundy chose EMCF as its initial clearing provider based on the preferences of the banks and securities firms in the consortium that founded the platform. “A number of the banks are already members, so it had a first-mover advantage,” said Neiglick.

Burgundy’s shareholders are Avanza Bank, Danske Bank, D. Carnegie & Co, DnB NOR, Evli Bank, HQ Bank, Kaupthing Bank (Sweden), NeoNet, Nordea, Nordnet, SEB, Svenska Handelsbanken, Swedbank and Öhman.

Burgundy trades will be fully fungible with those conducted on other trading platforms connected to EMCF. “You will be able to buy a position on one platform and sell it on Burgundy, for example. That is extremely important for efficiency,” said Neiglick. “There is full netting and cross-clearing between all platforms connected to EMCF.”

FXall adds netting service to trading platform

Electronic foreign exchange trading platform FXall has launched Cross Currency Netting, a new feature enabling users to manage high-value multi-currency exposures in volatile markets. The new feature is part of the company’s commitment to improve its platform, which is used by institutional clients such as asset managers, corporate treasurers, hedge funds and banks.

Cross Currency Netting combines tools which help clients identify principal risks within a currency portfolio so they can be transferred to their chosen bank or custodian. The details are automatically processed by FXall’s integrated workflow and straight-through processing capabilities.

The new feature enables customers to consult their bank or custodian about the optimal trading strategy in a fully automated way and with a complete audit trail. FXall said this allows clients to operate more efficiently, use the expertise of their partners, and maintain a controlled, error-free environment.

CCP deal brings European clearing competition closer

Europe’s biggest brokers welcomed last week’s announcements on interoperability between central counterparties (CCP) but admit it is only the first step towards an efficient clearing model for the pan-European market.

EMCF, which acts as the CCP for multilateral trading facilities (MTF) Chi-X, Nasdaq OMX Europe and BATS Europe, entered into a deal last week with Swiss clearer SIX x-clear to interoperate for those venues that choose to implement it.

So far, all MTFs that use EMCF have announced their intentions to add SIX x-clear as an alternative clearer. Turquoise, a broker-backed MTF, also told theTRADEnews.com that it is in discussions with its clearer, EuroCCP, to extend clearing options available to members.

However, the London Stock Exchange (LSE), which added SIX x-clear to LCH.Clearnet, its incumbent clearing house, last December and NYSE Euronext, which uses LCH.Clearnet across its European markets, said they have no plans to add to their current CCP offerings, in light of last week’s announcement. With SIX x-clear and EMCF agreeing interoperability, and SIX x-clear sharing CCP duties at the LSE, the day on which brokers can use a single CCP for accessing multiple major European exchanges and MTFs may have moved one step closer.

CA Cheuvreux offers Saudi trade execution via swap products

French broker CA Chevreux has started offering its institutional investor clients access to firms listed on the Saudi Arabian stock market (Tadawul) through swap products.

Saudi Arabia's capital market, the world’s 11th largest, opening up to international investors in August 2008. “By allowing access to Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) principal capital market, we are satisfying interest from our clients who are looking to invest in the region,” said Ian Peacock, global head of execution services, CA Cheuvreux.

CA Cheuvreux's executing broker on the Saudi Arabian market is Fransi Tadawul, a large local broker and a subsidiary of Banque Saudi Fransi. Under the regulatory guidance of the capital market authority, local authorised entities such as Fransi Tadawul are able to transfer the economic performance of Saudi stocks to non-GCC investors through swap agreements.

LSE average daily value drops 60% in January

The average daily value of equity trades on the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) electronic order books fell 60% to £6.2 billion in January 2009 from the record average daily value reported in January 2008. The average daily number of trades in January 2009 was 881,609 – 30% down on the same period last year.

The average daily value of trades on the LSE’s UK electronic order book in January 2009 was £4.8 billion, a 58% drop from the previous January. Average daily volume was 632,517, compared with 883,793 12 months earlier.

The group’s Italian electronic order book, acquired when it bought Borsa Italiana in 2007, saw its average daily value drop 69% to EUR 1.7 billion (£1.5 billion) in January 2009 from the previous January and average daily volume fall 36% to 211,987.

The average levels of the FTSE 100, the UK’s index of blue-chip stocks, and the Italian MIB index were 29 per cent and 45 per cent higher respectively in January 2008.

US broker hires ex-Credit Suisse exec as head of fixed income trading

US institutional brokerage Concept Capital has hired Allen Oppici, a former Credit Suisse executive, as director of fixed income sales and trading, marking the firm’s entry into the fixed income market.

In his new role, Oppici will oversee the launch and growth of Concept’s fixed income business. He plans to hire several sales personnel for the firm’s trading desk in Q1 this year. Further appointments are expected throughout the year as the fixed income unit expands.

Oppici’s appointment closely follows Concept’s hiring last month of former Citigroup executive Robert E. Moore to head its global institutional trading and research business. Concept is planning to triple the size of its institutional sales and trading team during 2009.

Oppici has more than 20 years’ experience in the securities, including 13 years at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) and subsequently Credit Suisse, where he was director of fixed income trading. Credit Suisse bought DLJ in 2000.