The Headhunter

Project Turquoise Chooses CEO and Technology Partner

Project Turquoise has appointed a CEO as well as technology partner.

The FT reports the new chief executive is Eli Lederman, a managing director at Morgan Stanley. He has been responsible for overseeing their electronic trading systems in New York and London. The provider of the technology platform is to be Cinnober, BOAT's technology partner. (BOAT is the trade reporting system backed by many of the same investment banks that are driving the Turquoise project).

The press release states that Turquoise now has the expertise, liquidity and great motivation to make the project a success.

Plus Market Reverse Takeover Talks End

Reuters reports this morning that Plus Markets has ended reverse takeover talks with an unamed partner that people familiar with the situation said was Project Turquoise, leaving the bank-led trading platform to pursue its delayed launch independently. The talks ended because the deal failed to deliver sufficient benefits to all its existing shareholders. It never disclosed with whom it had been talking. Click here for the report.

A report in yesterday's Independent states that "the project looks more red-faced than turquoise."

A Reuters' news story says Exchange industry watchers had expressed reservations about the deal because Plus focuses on small companies while Project Turquoise is targeting the biggest stocks in Europe.

Head of Sales - Fund Administration - Europe, Salary + Bonus + Equity

We represent a fast growing provider of hedge fund administration services. The company has substantial financial backing and has a mandate to build a global business which sets a new standard within the hedge fund community.

We seek a “hands on” sales leader who will play a key role in building the European business. Based in London your initial focus will be revenue generation through your own sales activity and all candidates should have a good network of hedge fund contacts. The company has aggressive growth targets and it is expected that over the next 3-5 years you will build a substantial team.

Remuneration is competitive and is geared towards success. There is the potential for significant gain through equity participation.

For an initial discussion please contact Paul Chambers on +44 (0)20 7392 2644.

Thomson Plans To Spin Off Tradeweb

A report in Wall Street & Technology announced Thomson is going to spin off TradeWeb, the fixed income and derivatives electronic trading platform electronic trading platform into a separate company, known as TradeWebFusion. It will be owned by Thomson and a consortium of broker dealers. The articles states that  other Thomson assets that will be moved into the new company include Autex, the equity indications of interest (IOI) service; Thomson Order Routing, a global trade order routing network; as well as a TradeWeb project to create an equity execution platform.

European Commission Raises Serious Doubts About Thomson-Reuters Merger

Canadian financial news provider Thomson's takeover of the Reuters news agency has been called into question by the European Commission. An article in Forbes states that though the negotiations may result in Thomson or Reuters having to sell some off some assets (we talked about this in an earlier post), it is not expected to prevent the deal, which will put the companies roughly on a par with Bloomberg.

A Reuters' report explains the Commission has "serious doubts as regards adverse effects on competition in several markets of the financial information sector....This may have an impact on other providers of financial information which integrate the financial products concerned into their own offerings, as well as on financial institutions and final customers of such products."

AFP highlights that Thomson-Reuters will have 34 percent of the financial information and data market compared with Bloomberg's 33 percent at present. Reuters currently controls 23 percent and Thomson 11 percent.

Slides from a recent Thomson Investor Day submitted with the SEC Filing show Reuters will represent 59% of the revenues of the combined group, while Thomson will represent 57% of operating profit.

Plus Markets Merges with Project Turquoise

The Independent on Sunday reports that Plus Markets, the loss-making stock exchange, has agreed to merge with Project Turquoise, the pan–European share trading platform, through a reverse takeover.

The articles states that Plus uses OMX's technology platform, and Simon Brickles would lead the business. It also believes this reverse takeover deal could revitalise a project that has been slow to take shape since the banks first revealed their plan last November, in response to high fees charged by the LSE and other established exchanges.

Head of Product Management - Reference Data - based London

Our client is a global business with well-known retail and wholesale financial products. We are working with their reference data business division.

We seek a Product Manager. This is a wide-ranging role, managing this global financial data vendor’s UK & Irish product offering. The products range from reference data and corporate actions feeds, intra-day pricing services through to real-time pricing and news feeds as well as display products across vendor terminals.

You will manage a team of product specialists and product developers. The team is responsible for a number of key internal tools and systems including the pre-processing of certain incoming data feeds. You will also provide second level support ongoing clients, dealing with queries that the helpdesk or account manager is unable to resolve. The group works closely in pre-sales with clients to build customised solutions to match client requirements (from initial discussions with clients to final design).

For a confidential conversation about this role please call Aine Hall on +44(0) 20 7392 2644.

Borsa Italiana and LSE combine

Today Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange have completed their merger. Their press release states the combined group operates the most advanced trading platform of any exchange and the most efficient post-trade services in Europe.

Last Friday a Reuters' report about Project Turquoise states the investment banks behind the venture have recently been silent on their launch to market but that a source last week stated there'd be announcements soon on management, technology, market model and launch date. An article in MarketWatch says Turquoise may do a deal with Plus Markets that will allow it to trade stocks through the UK-based platform.

An article in today's Financial News lists ten dark providers to watch including: BNY ConvergEx, Citigroup's Liquifi, Credit Suisse's CrossFinder, Goldmans Sach's Sigma X, Instinet, ITG, Liquidnet, Morgan Stanley's Trajectory Cross and MS Pool, Nyfix and Project Turquoise.