Chi-X Australia, the alternative trading system owned by Chi-X Global, has hired two former Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) executives ahead of its launch in Q4 this year.
Mike Aikins joins Chi-X Australia as chief technology officer and will be charged with the design, development, deployment and operation of market centre technology at the firm. At the ASX, he held roles including head of telecommunications, CTO and lead architect. Aikins was also CTO and managing director at the Centre for Securities Industry Strategy.
Andrew Walton, appointed business technology officer at Chi-X, previously project managed the IT and business development aspects of trading systems at UBS and BNP Paribas, as well as at the ASX. At Chi-X Australia, Walton will initially lead the client on-boarding and connectivity process as the platform prepares to go live.
Chi-X Global is a trading and exchange technology provider and trading venue operator owned by Instinet, the agency-broking arm of Japanese investment bank Nomura.
“Having secured in-principle approval for an Australian market licence, Chi-X Australia intends to launch a low-cost, high-speed, intelligent trading platform that is based on a model that has captured support from both investors and regulators by providing lower trading costs, increased overall market liquidity, and thus, improved trade execution quality for investors,” said Ronald Gould, CEO, Asia-Pacific, Chi-X Global.
“We continue to actively and positively engage with the Australian trading community and Mike and Andrew’s appointments will significantly deepen this engagement,” added Peter Fowler, COO, Chi-X Australia.
In August 2009, government officials proposed changes to the regulatory structure in Australia to make supervision of market participants the responsibility of domestic financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), a position traditionally held by the ASX. The change removed the conflicts of interest arising from the potential for alternative trading platforms in Australia to be regulated by the incumbent exchange. New market centres are expected to launch in Australia from Q4 2010.