Opening Cross: Out With the Old, In With the Older
From Jan. 1 next year, there will be a familiar face heading a company bearing the Thomson name: Jim Smith, who Thomson Reuters announced last week will displace current chief executive Tom Glocer, and who led Thomson Corp. prior to its acquisition of Reuters in 2008.
For some time, there have been whispers of the vendor’s board wanting to reinstall the old guard of former Thomson execs in the top roles, which were mostly occupied by Reuters staff immediately post-merger. However, the financial markets have soured over the past four years, and Thomson Reuters has struggled to capitalize on the combination of the former Reuters and Thomson Financial businesses while rival Bloomberg has continued to increase its screen count.
Some thought this came to a head earlier this year, when the vendor let go a number of senior staff, including Devin Wenig, CEO of the vendor’s Markets division. But in recent months, the speculation increased again, with sources saying that former Thomson Corp. CEO Smith seemed poised to take the reins, having risen from head of the vendor’s Professional division to overall company chief operating officer.
Certainly Glocer’s departure is the most significant move in the vendor’s efforts to revitalize itself and claw itself back to the top spot in the data industry. But can the veteran Smith—who has worked for Canada-based Thomson since 1987 while Glocer joined Reuters in 1993—deliver on the promise of change?
Also promising change is Canada’s Maple Group, the would-be purchaser of exchange group TMX, though the Canadian Competition Commissioner has raised concerns about the purchase—in conjunction with Maple’s other proposed acquisitions of securities depository CDS Clearing and Depository Services and the Alpha ATS—with respect to trading, clearing and settlement in the Canadian capital markets.
Maple and TMX argued their case last Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Ontario Securities Commission, stressing the importance of CDS adopting a for-profit business model based on successful exchange demutualizations, which—combined with TMX—would give it scale and the ability to create new products, and increase the Canadian market’s competitiveness as a whole, making it a more attractive investment destination.
But with 74 percent of the proposed combination to be owned by Canadian pension funds, banks, dealers and others, this model seems to owe a big nod to the member-owned exchanges of yesteryear. And while dealer-owned markets work well in some areas, dealers can be fickle. And when they lose interest, the venues lose flow and value.
However, the competition commissioner’s concerns reflect a trend of domestic authorities towards a model from yesteryear, too. That’s not to suggest they are backward, but merely that in an uncertain economic climate, regulators appear more circumspect about the impact to domestic business of major exchange mergers than others have in the past—for example, the Australian regulator scuppered a proposed merger between the Singapore Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange earlier this year, while NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse recently submitted a series of concessions to the European Commission’s director general for competition, designed to allay the regulator’s concerns about the impact of the proposed mega-merger on European derivatives trading and clearing.
After the credit crunch, the financial crisis and the Flash Crash, some might be forgiven for thinking that “in with the older” wouldn’t be such a bad thing. But as vendors and exchanges alike look for the way forward, “in with the new” is assured instead—new faces, new market landscapes, and plenty of new opportunities and challenges for the data industry.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Emerging Technologies
SS&C continues Blue Prism rollout, eyes other acquisition targets
The company is focusing on organic growth while keeping its eye on potential acquisitions.
CME: CFTC OKs clearing move to Google Cloud
The CFTC has given the Chicago-based exchange approval to run its clearing and settlement infrastructure on the Google Cloud Platform, while the exchange and vendor have extended their partnership to last until at least 2037.
Once a blockchain cheerleader, Axoni changes its playbook
The fintech, whose origins can be traced back to the genesis of capital markets’ complicated flirtation with DLT, has largely ditched the tech as the foundation of its data synchronization offering, opting for more familiar territory.
The IMD Wrap: Quality drivers—the sticks and carrots accelerating the data quality race
Like a Formula One Grand Prix, data management is a race that can be won or lost. And just as each race is part of a larger F1 championship that pays large sums of TV money to the winning team, winning or losing one race can contribute to winning or losing an endgame with much more at stake.
This Week: Clear Street, Hudson River Trading/Google Cloud, Alveo and more
A summary of the latest financial technology news.
Start-up uses ‘Magic’ to democratize access to AI for hedge funds
Spun out of Brevan Howard five years ago, SigTech hopes its new no-code generative AI offering can help smaller buy-siders even the odds with AI models.
JP Morgan touts DLT, tokens for collateral management
Distributed-ledger technology could make moving non-cash collateral more efficient, said managing director Toks Oyebode during an Isda conference on Thursday.
Waters Wrap: The changing definition and perception of blockchain
Anthony says that questions of definition and perception are killing DLT projects in the capital markets—oh, and a lack of proven implementations.