Rapid Addition Taps Former TR Enterprise Chief Powell as CEO

High-performance trading technology supplier Rapid Addition has named Mike Powell CEO, reporting to Executive Chairman and FIX guru Kevin Houstoun. Powell is former managing director for the enterprise division of Thomson Reuters, now known as Refinitiv, responsible for the company’s core data feed and platform business under the Elektron brand. Powell has been working as a consultant and advisor since leaving TR in 2017. At Rapid Addition, he will spearhead the company’s initiatives in providing high-performance enterprise solutions for electronic trading using FIX/FAST and FPGA technologies. Says Houston: “We see significant opportunity in helping customers evolve their trading infrastructure as regulation continues to push the industry towards an increasingly electronic and transparent world.”

DataRobot Names Rob Hegarty to Lead Push into Financial Markets

DataRobot, an enterprise AI firm, has named Rob Hegarty as general manager of financial markets and FinTech with the remit to expand the company’s reach in these sectors. DataRobot helps clients build and deploy machine learning models to increase revenue, improve efficiency and client experience, and reduce risk. Before joining DataRobot, Hegarty was the founder of Hegarty Group, a research, advisory, and consulting firm at the intersection of financial markets, technology, and data. He has also held senior positions at Thomson Reuters, DTCC, TowerGroup, Putnam Investments, Fidelity Investments, and Coopers & Lybrand.

TORA Names Head of US Sales

TORA, a cloud-based order and execution management system (OEMS) provider, has appointed Thomas Mullooly as head of US sales. In making this appointment, TORA seeks to expand its US sales channels and ensure the value of its OEMS platform is communicated to the global market. Mullooly reports to TORA managing director Chris Jenkins, and joins the company with over 15 years of trading technology sales experience, most recently at TradingScreen, where he was FX sales director. He has also spent time at BidFX, EBS BrokerTec and FX aggregator FXall, which is now part of Refinitiv.

Glue42 Appoints Sean Stephens as Chief Revenue Officer

Smart desktop integrator Glue42 has named Sean Stephens chief revenue officer with a remit to expand global sales efforts and help customers realise measurable value. Stephens reports to chief operating officer James Wooster. Glue42 CEO Leslie Spiro, says: “Our headcount is now in excess of 100 employees, the majority of whom are focused on engineering and development, and we have 15K plus licenses across the globe.”

ULTUMUS Hires Femi Orangun

ULTUMUS, a provider of data creation, management and distribution services for index and ETF products, has hired industry veteran Femi Orangun. Orangun joins the company from DeltaOne Solutions, part of IHS Markit, and takes on the role of solutions architect with a remit to assist development of the ULTUMUS data platform and production of advanced tooling in conjunction with the recent alliance between ULTUMUS and Velox Financial Technology. ULTUMUS says its appeal is in offering clients new and proven technology that improves data quality, visibility and timeliness.

Axyon AI Names Frank Abbenhuis Chief Commercial Officer

Axyon AI, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) for capital markets, has named Frank Abbenhuis as chief commercial officer with responsibility to oversee the company’s expansion from Modena, Italy, to London and drive client development. Axyon AI products can solve problems such as anticipating the market impact of economic events to suggesting future syndicated loans that could interest firms. Abbenhuis brings almost a decade of financial experience to Axyon AI having worked at ING as vice president of business development for wholesale banking advanced analytics, and formerly as a FinTech mentor for Startupbootcamp.

FlexTrade Hires to Build Sell-Side OMS Strength in EMEA

FlexTrade, a provider of cross-asset execution and order management systems (EOMS), has appointed Lak Loi and Vahid Shirani as co-heads of sell-side OMS business development for the EMEA region.

Both Loi and Shirani come to FlexTrade with more than 25 years of combined experience in equities and derivatives trading technology. Since 1997, Loi has worked in London and on Wall Street as an equity trading systems consultant with investment firms such as HSBC, Santander, and Barclays, and technology providers Bloomberg and Fidessa. Shirani joins FlexTrade after more than eight years working with Fidessa in various roles across its equity and derivatives trading platforms.

Dash Names Venu Palaparthi Chief Compliance Officer and Head of Regulatory Affairs

Dash Financial Technologies, a capital markets technology and execution provider, has named Venu Palaparthi as chief compliance officer and head of regulatory affairs. Palaparthi will be directing Dash’s compliance strategy with regards to internal regulatory policies and compliance with government regulations. Peter Maragos, co-founder and CEO of Dash Technologies, says Palaparthi’s experience will be key, particularly with respect to the enhanced Rule 606 transparency reporting requirements coming into effect in May.

Cinnober Chairman Nils-Robert Persson Steps Down

Nils-Robert Persson, chairman of Cinnober, has stepped down from his position at the company after 20 years. Persson’s departure from Cinnober this month follows that of deputy CEO, Per-Anders Häll Bedman, who left the company in December 2018, shortly before its acquisition by Nasdaq.

Since the acquisition, OCC has selected to replace its legacy clearing operations with a system employing Cinnober’s TRADExpress RealTime Clearing. Persson, says: “In 2007, I defined 10 dream customers for Cinnober. With OCC, we now have eight of them. Unfortunately, I will not be involved in delivering to OCC, but wish all involved the best of luck.”

Brian Conroy Appointed Liquidnet President

Liquidnet, a technology-driven, global institutional investment network, has appointed Brian Conroy as president. In this role, Conroy will work alongside Liquidnet CEO and founder, Seth Merrin. Conroy brings over three decades of experience in the financial services industry to Liquidnet, joining the company from Fidelity International in London, where he served as president. He will be based in New York and report directly to the CEO.