Complementary products will provide a complete end-to-end market infrastructure ecosystem solution
London, 28 Jan 2015 – Global Markets Exchange Group International LLP (GMEX Group) today announced that it has taken a strategic stake, through its GMEX Technologies Limited (GMEX TECH) subsidiary, in the UK based post-trade software firm Avenir Technology Limited (Avenir).
Avenir has developed a suite of innovative and cost effective systems for post-trade processing for exchanges, clearing houses, central securities depositories (CSDs) and share registrars across multiple assets classes including securities, derivatives and physical commodities.
Avenir’s first product is a share registry platform that is currently used by firms in the UK and New Zealand. Other products include AvenirSettle, a depository solution for handling physical settlement in securities as well as warehouse receipts for commodities markets and AvenirClear, a multi-asset central counterparty clearing system. With a focus on usability and using only open source components, Avenir software is delivered via the internet to computers, tablets and smartphones.
GMEX TECH will also be the exclusive sales, distribution and delivery agent for the Avenir product set. This compliments GMEX TECH’s existing suite of products delivered to exchanges globally, which include its leading edge ForumMatch exchange trading platform, ForumDetect market surveillance system and ForumTrader workstation. All of these solutions are delivered as a managed service or locally deployed.
“This strategic investment into Avenir will add post-trade solutions to the existing GMEX Technologies product range. This enables us to deliver a complete end-to-
end market infrastructure eco-system solution for exchanges, trading venues, clearing houses and depositories globally across multiple asset classes including physical commodities,” said Hirander Misra, Chief Executive Officer of GMEX Group, who has also been appointed to the Avenir Board as a Non-Executive Director.
“Through this partnership with GMEX Group, Avenir intends to challenge the status-quo through innovative thought leadership. The goal is to provide the industry with a solution that will break the mould of the legacy, expensive and difficult to maintain client/server based post-trade systems that the market currently suffers from,” said Stuart Turner, Director and Co-Founder of Avenir.
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Media Contact
GMEX Group:
Melanie Budden, The Realization Group, ph: +44 7974 937 970, pr@gmex-group.com
Avenir Technology:
Stuart Turner, ph: +44 (0)7590196372, srt@avenir-technology.com
About GMEX Technologies Limited
GMEX Technologies Limited (GMEX TECH) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GMEX Group. GMEX TECH is provider of multi-asset exchange and post trade technology, which includes an FCA vetted high performance exchange trading system, through to a leading edge matching engine, market surveillance system, several front end trading platform options as well as clearing house and depository systems.
About GMEX Group
Global Markets Exchange Group International LLP (“GMEX Group”) is a group of companies that offer sustainable and innovative solutions for the new era of global financial markets, encompassing:
- Operation of a trading venue for the execution of a Constant Maturity Future for Interest Rate Swaps
- Development of related new tradable market and product indices
- Creation and operation of low cost electronic exchanges in equities, debt, FX, derivatives and commodities in developing and, in a targeted way, developed markets
- Interconnectivity of exchanges to each other creating a global network of liquidity
- Business development to enhance liquidity in partner exchange products
- Consultancy on exchange strategy, product development, clearing and regulation
- Provision of platform technology
GMEX Group stakeholders include Deutsche Börse AG and Forum Trading Solutions Limited through its investment vehicle.
For more information, visit www.gmex-group.com
About Avenir Technology Limited
Avenir Technology is a new participant in Financial Market software, created by a group of industry professionals disillusioned with the high cost and inflexibility of legacy systems. Avenir has developed a suite of innovative and cost effective systems for post-trade processing for exchanges, clearing houses, central securities depositories (CSDs) and share registrars.
Using only open source components and with a focus on usability, Avenir software is markedly different to existing offerings. It is delivered via the internet to computers, tablets and smartphones. It is easy to use with minimum training but contains all the features needed to effectively and safely operate the relevant infrastructure.
Avenir’s first product was a share registry platform that is currently in production in the UK and New Zealand. Other products include AvenirSettle, a solution for security settlement and AvenirClear, a multi-asset central counterparty clearing system.
Future development focus is on solutions for commodity markets, where its easy deployment should make it appealing for the many new markets that will be developing over the next few years.
For more information, visit www.avenir-technology.com
Notes to Editors:
Avenir Executive Management Team
Stuart Turner (Director & Co-Founder) has spent 30 years in the Financial Market Infrastructure business. His first non-academic job after graduating from the University of Cambridge was as a scrip clerk with the ANZ Bank in Australia, where he spent his days ensuring that transfer forms were filled out correctly and that a valid share certificate was attached to cover the number of shares sold. Even in these early days, he thought there had to be a better system. The opportunity partially presented itself a couple of years later. After promotion to investment analyst, he was involved in specifying the first computer system to be used by the investment department of the bank.
After a spell in investment banking with Rothschild, Stuart spent 6 years in the market data business, building two global collection, distribution and sales networks and providing consultancy to exchanges and market data customers on how best to sell and use data. Moving on from market data, Stuart spent most of his recent career at exchanges, undertaking a variety of tasks including managing clearing houses, being head of risk management, head of IT, designing and developing Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) systems (including a completely new clearing system while at OMX), setting up brand new exchange operations and being a senior manager or board director of exchanges.
More recently he has been an independent consultant to FMIs, particularly helping them to make the correct technology choices. During this latter part of his career Stuart had become disillusioned with the quality, price and user interfaces of systems available to FMIs and has decided to use his extensive knowledge of the requirements of the industry and his knowledge of systems to create a brand new choice for the market, hence the formation of Avenir Technology. He also drove the creation of Avenir Registrars, the first new CREST eligible registrar in the UK for many years, powered by one of the systems developed by Avenir Technology.
Martyn Bain (Director & Co-Founder) relishes solving business problems with smart IT solutions. Martyn was still at high school when he solved a problem for a local stockbroking firm by creating a database of fixed interest investments on an Apple Macintosh SE. After graduating university as a commercial property valuer, Martyn worked for a national valuation company. Martyn became the go-to-guy for IT-related valuation problems and ended up running all DCF valuations, portfolio valuations and international assignments.
After 7 years of IT and valuation Martyn emigrated to London. In the UK Martyn worked for a number of big names including American Express, APACS and Barclays Capital. At Barclays Capital Martyn ran the front office IT team for the equity derivatives desk.
Martyn returned to New Zealand and started with NZX in 2004. At NZX, as Head of Technology Strategy, Martyn managed the projects to completely refresh ageing core infrastructure. This included replacing the trading and the settlement system. Martyn also developed the offering for AXE ECN that set the benchmark for a radical shake-up of ASX’s pricing model and for the Australian government’s attitude to competitor entry to their protected exchange universe.
Before co-founding Avenir, Martyn had been consulting to NZX, Carbon Match and NZ stockbrokers. Since co-founding Avenir he has led the team to build the core platform and registry offering. Martyn has also setup Avenir Registrars in New Zealand with its initial client being New Zealand’s first Crowd Funding company, Snowball Effect.
Ferry Hendrikx (CTO & Co-Founder) has a comprehensive and natural understanding of digital technology and computers. Ferry wrote his first computer programme in 1985. After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington, Ferry worked for a local telecommunications software development company. It was here that he honed his design and development skills, working extensively with Unix/Linux systems to deliver complex, but efficient solutions for clients. Ferry subsequently worked in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Community, mostly in the telecommunications, internet and financial industries. His specialties include research, systems design and development. He has a proven track record of effective communications and management of both people and systems. Ferry is a highly pragmatic, but forward-thinking problem solver. Since returning to New Zealand, Ferry has worked as an ICT consultant for various government agencies and private companies in Wellington.
Ferry has recently also completed a PhD in Computer Science at Victoria University where his thesis was about developing distributed information systems, with a particular focus on recommendation information. Wide-ranging information about individuals (or services) is collected from diverse sources, and is spread across a distributed network of peers. The information is subsequently obtained from the network and utilised in decision making. His recent publications have looked at using recommendation information for access control and web service composition. His professional engagements have included Telecom NZ, TrustPower and NZX.
