News

James Cayne has stepped down as CEO of investment bank Bear Stearns, and has been replaced by Alan Schwartz, the company’s president. Cayne will remain chairman of Bear’s board of directors.

Financial software provider GL Trade has agreed to provide the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) with an ASP infrastructure connecting TASE members to the majority of financial marketplaces worldwide.

Bursa Malaysia Securities Clearing has launched the Central Matching Facility (CMF), an automated settlement system.

Townsend Analytics, an electronic trading solutions provider, has added agency broker On Point Executions’ new STING smart-routing solution to the list of execution destinations for US equity options available through its RealTick EMS.

Vhayu, a streaming tick processing and persistence software provider, has started offering new data feed handlers on its Velocity product line.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the rules for NYSE MatchPoint, a new, portfolio-based, point-in-time electronic facility of the New York Stock Exchange that matches aggregated orders at predetermined sessions throughout regular hours and after hours of the exchange.

Euroclear Belgium, Belgium’s central securities depository, has switched over to a new electronic registration process that covers all Belgian bearer securities traded on a regulated market and held by investors.

FXall, a foreign exchange (FX) trading platform, has announced record annual trading volumes of over $13.4 trillion in 2007, representing a 37% year-on-year volume increase.

ICAP, an interdealer broker, says it experienced record transaction volume across its electronic broking platforms in 2007.

Aite Group, a research and advisory firm, expects IT spending on global market data infrastructures to reach $7.8 billion by the end of 2010 as the pressure to keep up with speed and market fragmentation continues.