Aqua, the new alternative trading system (ATS) offering block liquidity to the global equity markets, announced that Brian Gay, a seasoned professional in the design and delivery of electronic trading systems for the financial services industry, has been named Senior Vice President and Global Head of Integration Services, with additional responsibilities in the areas of product management and operations. He reports to Kevin Foley, President and CEO of Aqua.
Mr. Foley said, “Brian’s entire career has been focused on providing innovative and effective approaches to developing and executing solutions that meet clients’ evolving needs. Aqua is focused on delivering the next generation alternative trading system, in response to the market’s demand for anonymous block trading with untapped pools of liquidity. Brian’s breadth of talent and experience will be crucial to our ability to anticipate and meet our clients’ needs.”
Mr. Gay said, “I am excited about the prospects for Aqua, and the opportunity to work again with Kevin following our earlier collaboration at Bloomberg TradeBook. Too often, our field is littered with “me too” ideas repackaged to look new. At Aqua, we have listened intently to the marketplace and are capitalizing on recent trends and innovations to create a new and unique type of trading system. Our solutions and approach will introduce our clients to an environment where they can trade large blocks of stock with new and natural liquidity more efficiently and effectively than with any other system on the market.”
Prior to joining Aqua, Mr. Gay served as Vice President at software vendor TransactTools, in business development, sales, and account management roles. Earlier, he served as Global Head of Client Connectivity for Bloomberg, where he managed the delivery of integrated straight through processing solutions across the suite of electronic trading systems and applications on Bloomberg. Additionally, Mr. Gay has been an active participant in industry groups promoting electronic trading and straight through processing, including the FIX Protocol Organization.
Aqua is a new electronic trading platform focused on creating new pools of block liquidity for institutions, brokers, and hedge funds. Aqua is expected to seek necessary regulatory approvals globally to operate an alternative trading system. Based in New York, Aqua is owned by eSpeed, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPD), a leader in developing and deploying electronic marketplaces and related trading, and by Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading financial services provider to the institutional equity and fixed income markets, both of which are contributing financial, professional, and technology assets to Aqua. For more information, please visit www.aquaequities.com.
