US equities alternative trading system (ATS) has selected former BlackRock managing director, Junya Umeno, as the firm’s new head of Japan markets.
The hire comes as part of OneChronos’ push to expand into APAC markets and will see Umeno leading plans to develop Japan as a central hub for the firm and create a trading venue to capture new sources of liquidity in the region.
Umeno joins after spending nearly 20 years at BlackRock, where he most recently worked as a managing director, and helped the firm oversee client relationships with Japanese official institutions.
Prior to this, he was also head of trading, lending, and liquidity at BlackRock, and assumed the responsibility for trading multi-assets, securities lending, transition management and cash management.
He is also a co-chair of FIX Trading Community’s Japan Governance Board.
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In an announcement on LinkedIn, Umeno said: “Building on my experiences at BlackRock, I felt this was the right timing to take on a new challenge where I can leverage my expertise in trading, market structure, and stakeholder engagement to help drive innovation in Japan’s capital markets.
“Japan’s financial markets are at an important turning point, and I believe OneChronos’s innovative approach can bring new opportunities for efficiency, fairness, and better liquidity access.”
OneChronos had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Umeno’s move comes following a recent drive to expand OneChronos’ offering into new markets. In November 2024, the firm announced that it had raised $32 million in a funding round, in a bid to “optimise growth and expand trading opportunities” as the company looks to bolster its core business segments and grow in new markets “where current trading mechanisms leave significant value untapped”.