Bloomberg has partnered with Clearwater Analytics to provide a combined front-to-back investment offering for asset owners and asset managers.  Laila MirsepassiThe collaboration combines Bloomberg’s investment solutions suite with Clearwater’s accounting solution and is set to support users in managing costs and reducing risk. Specifically, the offering is expected to eliminate challenges of manual processes and data inconsistencies, and clients will also have access to functionalities including turnkey managed integration, enhanced OTC management, integrated cash management and consistent position and trade data exchanges.  The firms have said that the new solution meets an increasing client demand for more unified front-to-back investment management and flexibility in how these systems are integrated.  “In recent years, we have seen a marked increase in client demand for integrated front-to-back solutions, with many explicitly calling for unified workflows that reduce operational friction,” said Laila Mirsepassi, global head of buy-side strategy and partnerships at Bloomberg. “On the back of extensive client conversations, we recognised that a strategic collaboration like this was the most effective way to meet this demand, particularly for clients seeking both flexibility and scale.” Bloomberg’s investment workflows offer research management, order and portfolio management, and performance and risk analytics, while Clearwater’s accounting solution forms part of its platform which covers data aggregation, reconciliation and reporting. Read more – Fireside Friday with… Bloomberg’s Colette Garcia Shane Akeroyd, chief strategy officer and president, Asia Pacific at Clearwater Analytics said: “With increased pressure to scale efficiently, reduce risk, and respond to market complexity, the need for interoperable, client-first technology has never been greater. “This collaboration is a direct response to those needs. The timing reflects what we’re hearing from the market: clients want open systems that work together, not closed ecosystems that force tradeoffs.” The post Bloomberg and Clearwater partner to enhance investment management workflows appeared first on The TRADE.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) equity and foreign exchange trader Jamie Jones is set to leave the firm to join BNY’s expanding outsourced trading refit, The TRADE can reveal.  BNY declined to comment on his appointment. Jones has been with LGIM for almost three years, based in London. Previously in his career, he spent nearly eight years at 7IM in a data and documentation administration role and later as a senior multi-asset trader. Read more – Liontrust UK traders to join BNY as outsourced trading relationship begins He is set to join BNY’s Buy-side Trading Solutions (BTS) unit in the coming months, The TRADE understands.  The BNY BTS London unit currently consists of Liontrust Asset Management’s recently outsourced trading desk, operating under head of trading, Martin Hendry. The post Legal & General trader departs for BNY outsourced refit appeared first on The TRADE.

Algo optimisation is expected to see the greatest impact from AI adoption by buy-side equity firms, a report by Coalition Greenwich has revealed. According to the study, 78% of buy-side equity traders predict that this area will see the most benefits, with 61% also foreseeing impacts on venue selection, and 50% on broker and strategy choices. As discourse around AI gains traction in the industry, buy-side equity traders are increasingly looking to leverage the technology, with approximately a quarter saying they intend to integrate internal AI technologies into their trade execution workflow in the next year, and 15% stating they already use it in trade execution.  Additionally, automating operational tasks including clearing and settlements and compliance are also predicted to benefit from the introduction of AI.  When referring to trade execution workflow, the study omitted third party tools such as algo wheels and vendor and broker-provided analytics platforms.  AI uptake hurdles While possible AI uptake presents opportunities, the report also highlighted certain challenges buy-side traders should be aware of when approaching the technology.  Real-time optimisation of trading algorithms was underlined as a hurdle, due to the significant time and money investments required. The report found that upon consultation with AI heads, firms should first optimise their brokers and algos within those strategies to achieve success and avoid an “algos-gone-wild” situation.  Concerns were also expressed around AI-decision making and its capacity to respond to enquiries from regulators and clients about why certain choices were made. Similarly, the study indicated that buy-side desks do not generate sufficient trading data to effectively conduct AI-based analysis, with firms advised to not feel pressured to leverage AI into their workflow before they are prepared.  Overall, while there appear to be significant benefits of AI adoption for buy-side equity traders, the report stressed that firms need to be aware of the challenges and recognise that the technology is still in its early stages in the industry.  In order to support this adoption, technology and talent appear to be the most impactful methods at the moment, with some AI platforms already beginning to offer education to reveal its benefits and limitations. Coalition Greenwich interviewed 40 buy-side equity traders in North America from July to September 2024 to collate the report.  The post AI to have greatest impact on algo optimisation in equity trading, report finds appeared first on The TRADE.

Droit, a technology firm serving institutional clients, has received patent approval for an upgrade to its global regulatory decision-making platform ‘Adept’, allowing users to evaluate the permissibility of trades and preview the incoming impact of upcoming regulatory changes. Brock ArnasonSpecifically, the upgrade – named ‘explore mode’ – concerns decision-making across pre- and post-trade controls, allowing for full traceability in each step of traders’ transactions.Speaking to The TRADE, Brock Arnason, founder and chief executive, Droit, explains: “We aim to grant clients early access to updated rules and analytic technology to help them understand the practical impact of regulatory change. With a longer lead time, firms can examine the portfolio impact of rule changes and get a jump on their upstream system updates. “We’re largely focused on how we can add more value to our front-office clients in this space – a sort of pre pre-trade before you even get to the point of execution – and how we can help people with what you would call ‘sales desktop decisions’.” Previously, Adept required complete transaction details in order to confirm regulatory requirements and obligations, or render ‘trade’ or ‘do not trade’ decisions.However, with the ‘explore mode’ update, institutions can now explore ‘what if’ scenarios, discovering which transactions are possible exactly, as well as understanding the impact of regulatory decisions and compliance requirements.Specifically, the new feature allows users of Droit to input only partial information and/or a desired outcome in order to identify possible scenarios that fit within defined constraints and meet the applicable rules and regulations. A key example of increased efficiency relates to swap trading. You can directly answer common questions like ‘what types of interest rate swap am I permitted to trade with this client?’ or ’which of my clients can trade this particular credit default swap?’ It’s very useful,” explains Arnason. “You can imagine if you are someone sitting in the front office, a salesperson soliciting client interest in a specific idea from the trading desk, it’s a fast way to know which of your clients can trade it. You don’t want to waste your time, or the clients’ time.”Furthermore, when it comes to the post-trade offering, the newly patented technology allows firms to upload millions of transactions for bulk evaluation.This factor in the regulatory reporting solution allows institutional firms to quickly identify common issues and prioritise remediation efforts, according to Droit.Read more: FINBOURNE Technology and Droit set to partner on end-to-end position reporting solution“This patent approval is a testament to the unique technology we’ve developed, enabling our clients to interact with our rules using the Adept platform in new and expanded way,” said Leith Dennis, head of Adept knowledge engineering, in an official announcement.The post Droit updates global regulatory decision-making platform appeared first on The TRADE.

Liquidnet has appointed Michael Fidance as head of CEEMEA equity markets as part of the firm’s efforts to drive growth across the region.  In his new role, Fidance will be based out of London, where he is set to expand access new markets and liquidity, and enhance product and distribution as well as engagement with local and international asset managers.  Speaking to his new appointment, Fidance said: “In CEEMEA, tradeable liquidity is the single biggest variable affecting capital markets development, be it in asset allocation, index inclusion, or even in valuation. With this mandate in emerging markets being built globally, I truly believe we will help change the trajectory of CEEMEA equities to grow stronger and bigger than ever.” Fidance joins from State Street, where he worked as head of sales for the firm’s new execution solutions business for over a year. Prior to this, he also served as head of sales for CF Global Trading in Europe before the firm was acquired by State Street in 2024. Read more – State Street completes acquisition of CF Global He brings more than 25 years of global equity and fixed income markets experience to his new position, and has also worked extensively at HSBC, covering various roles including head of sales and trading for CEEMEA and global emerging markets execution strategies.  He has also held senior roles at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse.  In his new position at Liquidnet he will report to James Whitehead, head of trade coverage for EMEA, who said: “Michael brings extensive regional insight and a proven track record in building client-focused businesses. His appointment reflects our ambitions to broaden our footprint across CEEMEA equity markets, where our members are increasingly looking for trusted execution partners who can deliver scale, liquidity and local access.” Fidance’s appointment follows recent expansion for Liquidnet’s equity business, and in June 2025, the firm made three key hires from Instinet to its equities franchise in the Americas, in a bid to grow its offering in the region.  The appointments included Mark Turner as co-head of equities sales and trading for the Americas, Hillary Budds as head of US crossing and David Ramirez who joins as a senior member of the high touch and program trading team.  The post Liquidnet taps State Street for head of CEEMEA equity markets appeared first on The TRADE.

Cboe Europe is set to launch a trading service on its lit order book aimed at retail investors on 8 September 2025, pending UK and Dutch regulatory approval.  Specifically, the new service will allow retail investors to trade free of charge across 18 of Europe’s markets, either at or better than the European best bid and offer (EBBO).  The launch will be coupled with the introduction of a retail liquidity provider programme (RLP), which is expected to encourage market makers to post orders at the EBBO designed for retail order flow interaction, and ultimately enhance retail execution quality. “Cboe is committed to the ongoing evolution of our equity trading services to strengthen European equity markets through the development of a vibrant and inclusive on-exchange ecosystem that benefits all investors,” said Alex Dalley, head of European cash equities at Cboe Global Markets. “This service is our latest innovation, developed through close collaboration with our retail broker participants seeking to trade at EBBO or better in a simple and cost-effective way.” The service is also expected to support diversity and integration in lit order books, and the exchange has said that retail orders will be able to interact with quotes from RLP and non-RLP participants to gain execution at the best prices.  The solution will form part of Cboe Europe’s exchange offering and existing Cboe Europe participants will be able to access the service through their current connectivity.  Cboe explained that the offering follows an increased interest in retail trading in the last few months. In February 2025, Cboe Global Markets announced it would move its trading hours for US equities to a 24-hour model for five days a week, in response to a growing demand for expanded hours in the asset class. The post Cboe Europe to launch EBBO retail trading solution appeared first on The TRADE.

Mark Molloy has joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management as a macro trader within the broad markets fixed income team, based in London.He is set to report to Alexander Bouzalis, managing director, and Justin Sham, head of European credit trading.He confirmed his departure from Nomura Asset Management where he had most recently served as senior trader last week. Molloy initially joined as head of corporate actions seven years prior.Previously in his career, Molloy has also worked as a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs and as a senior corporate actions specialist at BNY Mellon.Morgan Stanley Investment Management serves both institutions and high net worth individuals worldwide, spanning private equity, private credit, infrastructure and private real estate markets.The business operates in more than 41 countries, employing over 70,000 professionals globally.Read more: Fireside Friday with… Morgan Stanley’s Maria Salamanca MejiaMorgan Stanley confirmed the appointment when approached by The TRADE.The post Morgan Stanley Investment Management appoints ex-Nomura AM trader appeared first on The TRADE.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has partnered with the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Fujitsu to deliver a SaaS request for quote (RFQ) platform for Australia’s ETF market.  Through the collaboration, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed, and Fujitsu is set to develop the platform based on TSE’s CONNEQTOR system which has assisted more than 290 users in reducing costs and enhancing ETF trading operation efficiency since its launch in February 2021.  The offering is expected to bring innovation in electronic trading and support the development of the Australian ETF market.  Andrew Walton, general manager, trading at ASX said: “With the ability to increase liquidity and price discovery, ASX sees the potential to support the development of this market segment and its participants. We will be engaging extensively with the Australian industry to gather feedback to assess the feasibility of launching this platform in the first half of 2026.” Fujitsu has also said that the offering is set to pave the way for further expansion of its RFQ platform to other exchanges in the future. Masaru Yagi, corporate executive officer, SEVP, Fujitsu Limited said: “Leveraging our deep experience in building and maintaining financial infrastructure with cutting-edge technology, we’re confident that our strong partnership with the Tokyo Stock Exchange will unlock even greater value for the ASX and its global customers.” The offering follows further developments for the Australian markets and ASX in recent months. In May 2022, the exchange partnered with technology provider Beeks Financial Cloud Group to provide clients with colocation infrastructure to connect to the Australian Liquidity Centre (ALC). The post Australian Securities Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange and Fujitsu collaborate on RFQ platform appeared first on The TRADE.

Paul Kilfoy has joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch as director, senior sales trader. The move sees Toronto-based Kilfoy join the firm from Stifel, where he had worked for almost five years.  During his time at Stifel, Kilfoy served as a managing director in trading, covering liability and sales trading.  Prior to this, he worked as a principal, sales trader at Eight Capital from August 2016 to March 2020.  Previously in his career, Kilfoy also spent a decade at Canaccord Genuity, where he worked as a managing director in trading. Additionally, he has also worked as a portfolio trader at UBS. Kilfoy confirmed his appointment in an announcement on social media.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment. The post Bank of America Merrill Lynch taps Stifel for senior trader appeared first on The TRADE.

Nomura Asset Management  Mark Molloy has confirmed his departure from Nomura Asset Management, where he most recently served as senior trader.  He has now joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management as a macro trader. He had been with the firm for seven and a half years, having joined as head of corporate actions in 2018.  Writing in a social media announcement, Molloy said: “so many great memories with great people but I have to say a massive thank you to Mai Tanaka, Damian Cronin and the NAMUK trading team for taking a chance on me back in 2020.”  Previously in his career, Molloy has served as a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs, as well as a senior corporate actions specialist in BNY Mellon.  UBS Omar Darwish has joined UBS as a sales trader as part of the firm’s MENA global markets execution services team.   The move sees Dubai-based Darwish leaving his previous position at GTN, where he had been working as an equity sales trader from January 2024 to July 2025.   Prior to this, he also held the same position at Arqaam Capital for more than 3 years and has also served as a director at Beltone Financial.   Additionally, he has served as VP sales trader at Renaissance Capital, and has also held sales trader positions at Credit Suisse and Commercial International Bank (CIB). Citadel Securities Citadel Securities has named Scott Rubner the firm’s new head of equity and equity derivatives strategy.   Rubner will be based out of Miami in his new role and joins the firm after almost ten years at Goldman Sachs, where he most recently worked as a managing director, covering global equity macro, emerging markets, equity derivatives and tactical flow of funds.   He also served as a vice president at the firm from October 2015 to January 2022.   Before his time at Goldman Sachs, Rubner worked at Merrill Lynch for more than ten years, most recently serving as a director. Prior to that, he held a macro emerging market derivatives sales trading role.  MFS Investment Management  Russell Beer has been appointed as a trader covering fixed income emerging markets at MFS Investment Management.   London-based Beer brings extensive industry experience to his new role, and was named one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars of Trading and Execution in 2015.  He joins the buy-side firm following a 16-year tenure at Aberdeen Standard Investments, most recently as a fixed income dealer covering emerging markets debt.  Similarly, he also worked as a fixed income dealer for the firm covering investment grade and high yield credit for 14 years.  Prior to this, he also worked at Credit Suisse Asset Management for more than four years, working in trade support, and later as a funding and derivatives assistant vice president.   HSBC Sonu Kapoor has joined HSBC as an emerging markets trader.   New York-based Kapoor joins after serving at BBVA for more than three years, where she had most recently been working as a rates and FX trader from February 2024 to June 2025.   She has also worked as an FX trader with the firm, and during her time there, covered areas including Chile non-deliverable forwards (NDF), inflation instruments, cross currency swaps and bonds.   Liquidnet Liquidnet has made three key hires from Instinet to its equities franchise in the Americas, in a bid to grow its offering in the region.   Mark Turner has been named co-head of equities sales and trading for the Americas and joins from Instinet, where he had been for more than 30 years. He served as a managing director at the firm, based out of New York.  The hires also include Hillary Budds, who has been appointed as head of US crossing. Budds also most recently worked at Instinet as an executive director from August 2017 to April 2025. The third hire to Liquidnet’s US equities business is David Ramirez, who joins as a senior member of the high touch and program trading team, following on from his position as a top revenue generator on Instinet’s high touch desk.   The post People Moves Monday: Nomura Asset Management, UBS, Citadel Securities and more… appeared first on The TRADE.

With the need to do more with less having never been more prevalent, the time for smart decisions is now asserted expert panellists from across the buy-side gathered at The Finance Hive’s CMX conference in London this week. The importance of innovation being addressed holistically rather than by individual teams – and trading desks – in isolation was a key point raised. “When it comes to that trying to do more with less, it’s not just the trading desk, it’s the whole firm,” asserted Mohammad Sohail, head of trading at Sarasin & Partners, highlighting that opportunities can be closer than one might think.Cathy Gibson, global head of trading at Ninety One, further explained: “Often if you look around the business, my needs are actually overlapping with what a portfolio management team’s needs or actually what our risk and performance team can leverage off.“[…] You’ll actually find there are probably other people in your business who need the tool as well. So, I might end up paying for a third of the data that I’m getting, but the rest of the business will pay for the rest and then even if you do get the quality support, it’s making sure that you’re fully maximising that spend throughout the business and that you’re not working in silos and building solutions that are not scalable cost systems.” Eric Böss, global head of trading at Allianz Global Investors, agreed, highlighting transaction cost analysis (TCA) as a particular area of opportunity. Read more – Conscious usage of TCA: Making trade analytics more actionable Speaking to his own approach, Böss shared: “We’ve been teaming up with risk and compliance on data sets. Why is it that combined is a different tool for post-trade combined checks when our TCA tools could do this? It’s easy, wins, it’s obvious and the larger the organisation gets, the higher the probability we see that.” More with less Elsewhere, panellists discussed what it truly means to make the most of what’s at hand as cost pressures and market flows continue to rock the boat.Speaking from his perspective at head of trading, EMEA at BNY Investments, Martin Hendry, agreed with the notion that ‘doing more with less’ was more prevalent than ever, adding that it is increasingly important to understand the nuances across the space. “We’ve seen a few causes in the last two years – we’ve seen record flows out of European equities, so assets are going down, less fees coming in, and then we’ve seen a lot of fee pressure from compliance.“So again, the income for the asset managers is being reduced but there’s still work to be done after that, wins to be generated. So how do we do that? A key point is of course automation and then there’s the obvious outsourced element as well. Asset managers can look at their core focus, their bread and butter – where they generate the most alpha – but as businesses evolve, they take on bits.“Liontrust acquired businesses over the last eight years and there’s been bits that didn’t fit in… but we still need to find solutions, and partnering with an outsource provider for smaller bits of the business is that.” Read more: Around two-thirds of buy-siders believe outsourced desks could enhance trade performance in cross-border trading Speaking to this, Gibson further added that it is vital to ensure that innovations lead to real wins.“I would agree that are user cases for outsource execution and I know we’ve used the more for less phrase a lot but I’m cautioned to be careful that outsourcing isn’t doing less for more, which means less service as in an execution function for your client and then passing the charges on to the end investor, the outsource piece. “[…] It’s like any mode execution channel, it’s using it in a smart way.”The post Buy-side trading heads unpack what it really means to do more with less appeared first on The TRADE.

Russell Beer has been appointed as a trader covering fixed income emerging markets at MFS Investment Management.  London-based Beer brings extensive industry experience to his new role, and was named one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars of Trading and Execution in 2015. Read more – Rising Stars of Trading and Execution 2025 nominations now open He joins the buy-side firm following a 16-year tenure at Aberdeen Standard Investments, most recently as a fixed income dealer covering emerging markets debt. Similarly, he also worked as a fixed income dealer for the firm covering investment grade and high yield credit for 14 years. He originally joined Aberdeen Standard Investments as a liquidity controller in 2009.  Prior to this, he also worked at Credit Suisse Asset Management for more than four years, working in trade support, and later as a funding and derivatives assistant vice president.  Beer confirmed his appointment in an announcement on social media.  MFS Investment Management had not yet responded for a request for comment by the time of publication. Beer’s appointment follows the hire of Morgan Stanley sales trading specialist Tracey O’Shea in June 2025. She joined MFS Investment Management’s European equities trading team, operating under director of international trading, Jennifer Blanchette.  The post MFS Investment Management hires fixed income emerging markets trader appeared first on The TRADE.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has begun the pricing process for what is reportedly the MENA region’s first distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based digitally native bond.Issued by First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the bond will be listed on ADX and made available through HSBC’s Orion digital assets platform. The transaction is the result of a collaboration between ADX, HSBC, and FAB, combining local market infrastructure with international expertise in digital issuance.  HSBC Orion, operated by the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) in Hong Kong, provides the underlying digital issuance framework, with the structure supported by international law firms. Global investors will be able to access the bond through accounts with CMU, Euroclear and Clearstream, either by becoming direct participants on HSBC Orion or through their existing custodians.  Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, group chief executive officer of ADX, said: “The successful issuance of MENA’s first blockchain-based digital bond, in close collaboration with FAB and HSBC, marks a defining moment in our journey to transform capital markets through innovation. ADX was central in facilitating this milestone, ensuring the bond’s seamless integration with existing post-trade infrastructure and compatibility with global settlement standards.” The introduction of the digital bond adds to ADX’s range of financial instruments and reflects broader market moves toward tokenised fixed income products, which aim to deliver operational efficiencies, faster settlement and enhanced transparency. HSBC acted as sole global coordinator, lead manager and bookrunner for the issuance, supporting the end-to-end blockchain-based transaction. Lars Kramer, group chief financial officer at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), said: “By transforming traditional settlement processes into seamless digital workflows, we are not only advancing FAB’s digital transformation but also supporting investors navigate the global digital assets landscape. This bond issuance accelerates the development of a robust digital capital markets ecosystem in the UAE.” Mohamed Al Marzooqi, chief executive officer, UAE, HSBC Bank Middle East, said: “The successful launch of MENA’s first digital bond on ADX using HSBC Orion shows how we are transforming the promise of tokenisation into reality for our region. By combining our global experience with trusted local partners, ADX and FAB, we’re helping bolster the region’s capital markets – making them more transparent, efficient and accessible to investors.” Designed to ensure compatibility with global settlement infrastructure, the bond integrates digital technology with existing post-trade systems. This approach aims to bridge traditional capital markets with next-generation issuance models and facilitates institutional investor access through established channels. The post HSBC, ADX and FAB partner on MENA’s first DLT-based digital bond listing appeared first on The TRADE.

Ediphy (fairCT) has been selected by the European Securities and Markets Authority to be the first consolidated tape provider (CTP) for bonds in the EU.  The decision comes after a six-month application assessment process, with ESMA stating that Ediphy was selected upon meeting all Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Mifir) selection criteria and reaching the overall highest award criteria score.  The group, co-ordinated by Ediphy, consists of Google Cloud, UBS, TP ICAP, Cboe Global Markets, FactSet, and Norges Bank Investment Management, entered the tender process in September 2024.  Natasha Cazenave, ESMA’s executive director, said: “With today’s decision, we are taking a decisive step towards setting up consolidated tapes in the EU. This step constitutes a key contribution to building the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) and to the further development of capital markets in Europe.  “Market participants will benefit from a consolidated view of market activity for bonds in the EU, with a variety of use cases to the benefit of all participants in the EU’s fixed income markets.”  Ediphy (fairCT) will now be expected to take steps the apply for authorisation, following which the group would operate the fixed income CTP for five years under ESMA’s supervision.  Chris Murphy, co-founder and chief executive of Ediphy said: “This milestone reflects Ediphy’s commitment to enhancing transparency and efficiency in EU bond markets, aligning with the goals of the Savings and Investment Union. In collaboration with the market, fairCT will deliver a comprehensive view of bond transactions, empowering market participants with better price discovery and fostering market integrity.”Additional bidders in the tender process also included Etrading Software and BondTape, both of which were invited to participate in the second step of the process in March 2025.  The provision of a CT for bonds is set to address key issues concerning fragmented liquidity across trading venues and various lit and dark trading protocols, and the appointment has been welcomed by other industry members.  “We look forward to engaging with Ediphy (fairCT) in the course of our continued focus on post trade transparency, including the quality of trading data,” said Victoria Webster, managing director of fixed income at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME). “The EU bond consolidated tape will serve as a critical tool in enhancing and democratising access to post-trade information in the European bond markets. By consolidating trade data from multiple sources, the tape will provide market participants and investors with a comprehensive view of bond transactions, irrespective of their resources and level of sophistication, thereby improving price formation and discovery as well as market integrity.”  The post ESMA selects fairCT as bonds consolidated tape provider appeared first on The TRADE.

Simon Toulon has left BlackRock after almost four years with the firm, The TRADE can reveal. He most recently served as an equity trader, working under Nick Craze, head of EMEA equity trading. Toulon was recognised as one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars of Trading and Execution in 2024, an initiative which recognises key buy-side individuals who go above and beyond in the industry. BlackRock confirmed Toulon’s departure when approached by The TRADE.Previously in his career, Toulon spent seven years at BNY, most recently as an equity trader.Before that he served in derivatives-focused roles at Barclays Investment Bank, and UBS Investment Bank. In 2023, the BlackRock EMEA equity trading team picked up The TRADE’s highly coveted Trading Desk of the Year, Long-Only award at Leaders in Trading. Read more: Embracing change on the BlackRock EMEA equity trading deskShortlisted by The TRADE, the desk took home the award after an industry vote, having impressed the street with its continued commitment to, and success in, its space.The post BlackRock equity trader departs appeared first on The TRADE.

Citadel Securities has named Scott Rubner the firm’s new head of equity and equity derivatives strategy.  Rubner will be based out of Miami in his new role and joins the firm after almost ten years at Goldman Sachs, where he most recently worked as a managing director, covering global equity macro, emerging markets, equity derivatives and tactical flow of funds.  He also served as a vice president at the firm from October 2015 to January 2022.  Prior to his time at Goldman Sachs, Rubner worked at Merrill Lynch for more than ten years, most recently serving as a director. Prior to that, he held a macro emerging market derivatives sales trading role. In a statement, Dave Silber, head of institutional options at Citadel Securities said: “The institutional effort at the firm remains at the forefront of what we’re trying to do.”Rubner confirmed his new position in an announcement on social media. The post Citadel Securities appoints head of equity and equity derivatives strategy appeared first on The TRADE.

When it comes to trading desk design there is no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are still real opportunities to maximise success, Eric Böss, global head of trading at Allianz Global Investors, told The Finance Hive’s CMX conference attendees. Heads of desks almost never have the opportunity to build a desk from scratch, with established processes deeply steeped in structures and strategies. However, there are key considerations when it comes to what exactly should be prioritised when it comes to enhancing desk operations.Creative hiring was flagged as the key tactic for adapting to constantly changing environment and leveraging AI effectively. A desk requires people who are able to articulate themselves person to person as well, in large part because explaining tech is increasingly important as innovation ramps up, explained Böss. Those who are willing and able to work with machines and not be afraid of being replaced by them are set to be key.“If you hire creative people, there’s a higher probability that your work processes will be too. Creative people are needed because the environment we’re working in is constantly changing.“The combination between a creative team capable of communicating amongst each other and the street, and the PMs using the right technology, is what I would aim for if I were to build a desk from scratch.” Be tech-savvy When it comes to technology and data management, its importance cannot be overlooked, and remains key.Böss highlighted the importance of hiring tech-savvy personnel at desk level, including data scientists, tech traders, and IT specialists, in a bid to bridge the gap between technology and human. Going a step further, the collaboration between these parties was also flagged.“If you can afford it, have someone at the desk who helps you with technology. They can help you with extracting the best parts of the system […] The interaction between data streams and the humans working on the desk is also increasing.”With this in mind, he further reminded that the focus is oftentimes shifting to asking right questions rather than coding ability.Remember the human touch Extending the conversation to artificial intelligence, Böss was sure to remind those gathered that human touch is unavoidable, with AI alone having the potential to become “extremely dangerous”. “If you read articles in the recent months about how manipulative some of those AIs are becoming, it’s actually extraordinarily interesting because we’re just at the beginning of this phase of development. It’s something that thinks and works and acts like humans, but is clearly not human […] You really have to work with your technology now.” He further shared that recent stats had shown for a fact that the most effective and efficient processes are those which combine human and AI efforts, with neither being stronger alone and the task at hand instead being to leverage the best qualities of the joint skillset. “Human minds learn, and so do machines – they digest data, they find patterns and are super good at being fast, being precise, discovering patterns.“However, humans are terribly good when it comes to unknown environments and connecting the dots, which is very helpful because we’re not working in science, we’re working in financial markets.”The post When it comes to the best trading set-up creative minds are key, says Allianz’s Eric Böss appeared first on The TRADE.

Omar Darwish has joined UBS as a sales trader as part of the firm’s MENA global markets execution services team.  The move sees Dubai-based Darwish leaving his previous position at fintech pioneer GTN, where he had been working as an equity sales trader from January 2024 to July 2025.  Prior to this, he also held the same position at Arqaam Capital for more than 3 years and has also served as a director at Beltone Financial.  Additionally, previously in his career, he has served as VP sales trader at Renaissance Capital, and has also held sales trader positions at Credit Suisse and Commercial International Bank (CIB).  The move marks an additional hire for the firm recently, and in June 2024, UBS appointed Carlos Salcedo as head of capital markets financing sales Americas, which saw him taking on the responsibility for the execution of UBS’ commercial strategy in the Americas. The post UBS taps GTN for new sales trader appeared first on The TRADE.

The TRADE’s Rising Stars of Trading and Execution Awards return for their eleventh year, recognising the brightest up-and-coming talent across trading and execution for 2025.  In collaboration with Instinet, nominations are now open for this year’s award ceremony for candidates currently working in a trading role within a buy-side firm. Names can be submitted here for the stars you think deserve recognition, so don’t miss your chance to vote. Good luck to all! The Rising Stars ceremony took on a new format in 2024 as a celebration of both 10 years of the initiative and 20 years of The TRADE. In collaboration with Instinet, we hosted a standalone event in October, bringing together 100 buy-siders to recognise the latest cohort of Rising Stars. Building on this success, The TRADE’s 2025 iteration will be no different with a special commemorative evening held on 8 October at One Moorgate Place. The TRADE also launched its inaugural Leaders in Trading New York Awards in 2024, recognising its first cohort of North American Rising Stars.  Read more – The TRADE announces the Rising Stars of Trading and Execution North America for 2024 Our Rising Stars have long demonstrated their success, with many past winners going on to head up desks and take on senior positions at some of the world’s foremost asset managers, hedge funds and institutions.   Don’t miss this opportunity to shine a spotlight on your own best talent and recognise their achievements over the past year. Visit the nominations page to submit your entries – all industry participants are welcome to nominate buy-side candidates. Find previous years’ recognised individuals here: 2024 – 2023 – 2022 – 2021 – 2020 – 2019 – 2018 – 2017 – 2016 – 2015. If you are on the buy-side and would like to register your attendance for this year’s Rising Stars ceremony, please contact karen.delahoy@thetradenews.com. The post Rising Stars of Trading and Execution 2025 nominations now open appeared first on The TRADE.

Delta Capita has launched its new technology platform, Elaris OTC, in a bid to enhance post-trade processes for OTC derivatives.  The solution, which is powered by blockchain platform operator, Fragmos Chain, is set to reduce operational costs and risk by allowing OTC derivatives trades and lifecycle events to be automatically matched between market participants.  The offering will also translate native client messaging formats into the common domain model (CDM) standard, to drive interoperability.  Mark Aldous, global head of capital markets managed services at Delta Capita, said: “This end-to-end offering brings together best-in-class technology and proven operational capabilities. Fully digital, CDM-aligned, and scalable, Elaris OTC sets a new standard for the industry.” Additionally, the platform can also be combined with Delta Capita’s global OTC confirmation and settlement services, to allow all users beyond just platform participants to capture and manage interactions with counterparties, regardless of if they use the platform or not.  “By integrating with Delta Capita’s services, Elaris OTC delivers immediate impact and accelerates adoption for both sell-side and buy-side firms,” said Daniel Ivanier, chief executive of Fragmos Chain. The firm has said that the development of the solution was driven by the need for a fully digitised solution, and pointed to inefficiencies and fragmentation in the OTC derivatives market, stating that approximately 20% of trades are still confirmed and settled manually.  The offering follows the firm’s multi-year agreement with HSBC established in January 2025, which sees Delta Capita delivering OTC derivatives confirmation and settlement services globally.  The firm has also seen further developments in recent months, including the acquisition of LSEG’s CLM technology, as well as the launch of its MACH Distributed Ledger product suite, which offers capital markets blockchain software. The post Delta Capita launches platform to automate OTC derivatives post-trade appeared first on The TRADE.