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Fidessa group plc (LSE: FDSA), provider of high performance trading, market data and global connectivity solutions for the buy-side and sell-side, has today announced that DnB NOR Markets, the investment banking arm of Norway's largest financial services group, has selected its Software as a Service (SaaS) sell-side trading platform to support its global trading operations.
DnB NOR Markets will benefit from Fidessa's world-class order and execution management and its highly sophisticated smart order routing (SOR) technology to maximise trading opportunities across the fragmented equities markets. In addition, DnB NOR Markets will have access to more than 140 trading venues worldwide via Fidessa's global FIX connectivity network, enabling it to provide DMA, Care and Algo services to its clients worldwide.
Roar Torrissen, at DnB NOR Markets, said: “When looking to replace our previous trading solution we were impressed with the significant benefits the Fidessa trading platform offers. The superior flexibility was undoubtedly a major factor in our decision-making and Fidessa has a strong reputation in this space. Crucially, Fidessa provides us with a fully hosted system that gives us all the functionality we require to support our international trading business.”
As well as the core trading platform, DnB NOR’s traders in Oslo, London, New York and Singapore will be using a number of Fidessa’s advanced trading tools. These include basket trading functionality, which will allow DnB NOR to trade large mixed baskets, and pairs trading which will enable traders to manage large numbers of client pair orders within the platform's order workflow. The complete solution is fully integrated with DnB NOR’s back office system via bespoke interfaces.
Paal Karstensen, Head of Equities at DnB NOR Markets, added: “It is a key part of our strategy to employ world-leading technology to enable us to provide the best possible service to our clients and implementing Fidessa's platform supports that aim. At the same time, we wanted to engage with a strong and stable vendor that has a deep understanding of the Nordic market, which is something Fidessa has demonstrated to us throughout our negotiations.”
Mark Holden, New Business Sales Manager for Fidessa in the region, said: “There is a significant momentum among the Nordic countries as increasing fragmentation in the region is prompting brokers of all sizes to reassess their technology infrastructure to ensure that it is meeting their needs. Fidessa’s highly sophisticated SOR, coupled with an innovative yet robust platform is proving to be a compelling proposition.
Fidessa’s products serve 26,000 users across 900 clients around the world and are used by more than 85 per cent of tier-one financial institutions. Fidessa's connectivity network is one of the world's largest and most diverse trading communities, linking 2,400 buy-side institutions, 550 brokers and more than 140 markets across EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas. In the first half of 2010, Fidessa’s network increased its traffic by 28% and now carries executed order flow of around $700 billion each month.
