TD Ameritrade will be acquiring its fellow discount brokerage Scottrade Financial Services in a $4 billion cash and stock transaction that TD describes as “a good strategic and financial fit for us” that will bring together complementary organizations that can bolster their investment guidance, planning and advisory services, including “robo” advice. “For TD Ameritrade, the… Read More >>
Pending LSE-Deutsche Börse Union Faces Antitrust Pushback
Shareholders may have given their seal of approval but the fate of the Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange Group’s £21 billion ($27.7 billion) merger is now in the hands of roughly 40 regulatory bodies around the world. While a handful including the U.S. and Russian authorities have given the union the green light, getting… Read More >>
Settlement Helps Steven A. Cohen Return in 2018
The ongoing saga of billionaire hedge fund manager, Steven A. Cohen, completed another episode with his settlement this week with the CFTC, which may help him create a path back to investing other peoples’ money by 2018 or beyond. The former hedge fund heavyweight Cohen settled with the SEC this past January after the regulator… Read More >>
IPC Buys Etrali from the Gores Group
Once fierce competitors in the trading turret business, IPC Systems and Etrali Trading Solutions are becoming one company as a private equity firm, the Gores Group, has sold Etrali to IPC, officials say. IPC and Gores Group officials decline to reveal the commercial terms of the acquisition. The Paris-based Etrali is a provider of voice… Read More >>
Investors Still Like Sell-Side Salespeople
An interesting report on how investors still rely on sell-side advice and interactions even while swap trading is moving quickly to electronic platforms slipped past me, but it’s worthy of belated notice. The report (issued late last month) from Greenwich Associates, “Interest-Rate Derivatives Sales: Not What It Used To Be, But No Less Important,”… Read More >>
CME Group Halts Closure of Open Outcry Pits
The New York and Chicago pits will not close as previously announced by the derivatives exchange and clearing giant CME Group, giving open outcry trading a sudden stay of execution. “Due to a technical revision to its filing with the CFTC, CME Group today announced that it will delay the closing of its futures pits… Read More >>
Partnership Brings Algorithms to SS&C Clients
Financial software vendor SS&C Technologies has partnered with Brazilian electronic trading vendor Americas Trading Group (ATG) to provide algorithmic trading strategies to customers of SS&C’s MarketTrader order management system (OMS) and FIXLink electronic trading community, officials say. ATG has 35 local sponsoring brokers across Latin America and provides multi-asset algorithms optimized for local market execution…. Read More >>
iTB Bolsters Interface for Fixed Income Platform
iTB Holdings, a software vendor for institutional fixed income traders, has upgraded the interface for its iTBconnect platform that allows users to display their bids/offers and inventory to electronic fixed income trading venues in order to improve fill rates, optimize execution prices and maximize distribution, officials say. The iTBconnect platform is used for executing trades,… Read More >>
ConvergEx Group Fills Three Top Posts
ConvergEx Group, a global brokerage and technology vendor, has added three industry veterans to its leadership line-up, hiring from Janney Montgomery Scott, Canaccord Genuity and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, officials say. Greg Voetsch is the new CEO of ConvergEx Execution Solutions and head of brokerage services while Charles Galligan is head of program trading…. Read More >>
OpenLink VP Moves to Calypso
Calypso Technology has hired Mark Abrams, a former vice president at OpenLink Financial, as a sales executive for North American sales. Calypso officials decline to comment upon employment situations, but Abrams confirmed he’s been with the firm since June. During his six years at OpenLink Financial as vice president of sales, North America, Abrams led major… Read More >>
