Doug Atkin, Richard Kilsby, Benn Steil And John Woodman To Launch Consultancy

Four prominent names in the transatlantic securities business announced today that they are joining forces to create an international market consultancy operation. The four are Doug Atkin, formerly CEO of Instinet; Richard Kilsby, formerly CEO of UK-based Tradepoint (now virt-x); Benn Steil, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and John Woodman, formerly COO of Knight Securities International. Atkin and Steil are based in New York, Kilsby and Woodman in London.

Their new enterprise, Efficient Frontiers, will advise clients in five major areas:

• Market infrastructure M&A/joint venture activity
• Assessing venture capital opportunities
• Optimizing trade execution
• Strategic technology outsourcing
• Buy-side/sell-side relationship management

The four partners anticipate considerable demand deriving from the proliferation of order-management and trading platforms; the rapid growth in cross-border trading; mergers of exchanges, CSDs, brokers and asset managers; and the development of emerging market financial sectors.

The firm intends to advise senior management at organizations with which the partners have long professional experience. These potential clients include venture capital firms, developed and emerging market exchanges, trading system operators, clearing and settlement organizations, securities firms, asset managers, their existing advisers and regulatory bodies.

Doug Atkin said "The founding partners of Efficient Frontiers bring a unique blend of expertise and experience to the enterprise. No consultancy is better positioned to offer such specialized and independent support in this rapidly changing industry."