State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has appointed Dohei Echizenya as head, president and representative director of Japan, effective immediately.
Globally, the asset management subsidiary holds US$4.73 trillion AUM across clients in 59 countries.
The appointment follows SSGA’s expansion in Japan this year, with 11 US-listed ETFs and seven low-cost index funds added to its offering in the country.
In the Tokyo-based role, Echizenya is responsible for the firm’s strategic growth in the region. He reports to Kevin Anderson, head of APAC.
Anderson commented: “Japan is an important market for SSGA, and we see tremendous opportunities as the government implements various measures to promote Japan as a leading asset management centre. Dohei’s extensive experience in developing strategy as an enterprise manager, adept at running complex, scalable, and growth-oriented businesses, will be instrumental in leading our team in Japan to enhance our offerings to Japanese investors.”
Echizenya has more than 25 years of industry experience and joins SSGA from BlackRock, where he has been a director and head of iShares for Japan since 2018. Prior to this, he was a buy-side sales manager at Metzler Asset Management and executive director of the institutional equity division at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Less than a year after replacing top management over corruption and governance scandals, Swedish pension fund giant Alecta is jumping into a new EMS partnership with FlexTrade.
FlexTRADER EMS will now be used for the firm’s equities and derivatives trading, replacing Bloomberg EMSX. Equities and derivatives trades will now be executed on a single order blotter, with pre-trade data sources integrated to improve decision-making, the companies stated.
The fund held $60.4 billion of equities at the end of H1 2024. Göran Wall, a trader at Alecta, explained the selection process for the new system: “We wanted to deploy a sophisticated solution that could help us optimise pre-trade decision-making and efficiently meet our best-execution obligations on the desk.”
As a partner in the SimCorp Open Platform ecosystem, FlexTRADER EMS is interoperable with SimCorp’s Order Manager OMS, used by Alecta. It has been integrated into Alecta’s operations in less than three months, the firms said.
Alecta is the fifth largest European occupational pension company, with more than US$110 billion AUM. The firm has recently been part of regulatory and legal probes into bribery, relating to its investment in real estate company Heimstaden Bostad. The legal case was dropped by the Swedish prosecutor in August, but concerns about Alecta’s governance and risk management practices remained.
In 2023, the company stated that it was implementing an “improvement programme” consisting of risk reduction and better risk control in its equity portfolio and stronger governance practices. An annual assessment of corruption risk, including that contributed by external suppliers, found that the pension fund had an overall medium risk of improper influencing in 2023.
Peder Hasslev, CEO, Alecta.
A number of changes were made to personnel over the year, with Jan-Olof Jackne named chair of the board, Peder Hasslev appointed CEO, Pablo Bernengo taking over as head of asset management and Magnus Tell becoming head of equity.
Over H1 2024, Alecta recorded SEK1,334,584 in AUM, up 6% year-on-year. In its interim report, the firm stated that it was continuing its governance and risk management improvements and conducting asset liability management work to optimise future portfolio allocations for its defined benefit pension.
Wilfred Yiu is retiring at the end of the year, HKEX has announced.
Yiu has been with the firm since 2019, and currently serves as deputy chief executive officer, co-chief operating officer and co-head of markets.He is also CEO of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) and Hong Kong Futures Exchange (HKFE).
HKEX closed Q3 with US$4,852 million in revenue and other income, it reported, the highest it has seen in a third quarter. The monthly average daily volume for stock options contracts spiked in September, hitting a yearly high of 9.4 million. Monthly average daily turnover on the stock exchange rose in tandem, reaching US$169.2 billion at the end of Q3.
On a year-to-date basis, revenues were up marginally year-on-year for cash and equity and financial derivatives. US$6,351 million was reported for the former, up 1%, and US$4,517 for the latter, up 6%.
Vanessa Lau, co-chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will become the sole chief operating officer and take over Yiu’s SEHK and HKFE roles. She will be supported by Xu Liang, who will report to Lau as managing director and head of operations from 10 February.
Xu has more than 25 years of industry experience and has spent almost two decades with Goldman Sachs, most recently as co-head of APAC operations.
HKEX has also created a new division under the remit of chief information officer Richard Leung, aiming to address changing market requirements and futureproof the business. Glenda So, currently co-head of markets, has been appointed head of platform and market structure development.
Eric Heleine, incoming head of electronic trading and data, AXA IM
Alongside randomised (or ‘algo wheel’) execution, buyside firms are seeking out a new breed of liquidity provider that can noiselessly absorb block trading parent orders
The traditional process of order splitting in equity execution is beset with problems of risk and information leakage that imposes significant trading costs on the buyside. Panellists at the FIX Trading Community’s France event in Paris spoke about their efforts to deal with the problem.
Eric Heleine, outgoing head of trading, Groupama Asset Management
For Eric Heleine, the outgoing head of trading at Groupama Asset Management, the problem lies in the proliferation of trading venues and market makers that allow predators to pick off buyside orders. The solution is to filter out – or disintermediate – a swathe of market participants. “We’re working to disintermediate the flow, to avoid to introducing information leakage for large blocks”, Heleine explains.
In practice, this involves either disguising trading intentions using randomization (so called ‘algo wheels’) or selecting specific liquidity providers, depending on the context.
“On the equity side we introduced a new waterfall decision-making process, to identify is whether to trade versus risk price, or to trade inside the markets with some wheels and some liquidity tools”, Heleine explains. “We introduce smart analysis to identify the best outcome – between going directly to a stream that we receive in the back end, going to the market through automation or through manual trader execution.”
A new kind of sell-side firm has emerged to satisfy such demands. The idea of electronic liquidity provider-driven systematic internalisers (ELP SIs) isn’t new, but algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets says it is now able to absorb parent orders on a bilateral principal liquidity basis that otherwise would be routed to the market in a sequence of child orders.
According to Geoffrey Damien, head of France for XTX Markets, “In this new type of workflow, the ELP SIs interact with the parent order at the wheel level, so before it even reaches the broker algo. How does it work? Well, it’s pretty simple and totally automated. The parent order would be checked against the ELP SI quotes, in this case, XTX quotes, to see if there is a chance for the parent order to be executed in one clip. If not, the parent order will continue its course, and go through the usual broker workflow. So I guess it’s a free option for the buyside.”
Damien claims that for selected trades, XTX Markets can absorb entire parent orders with no impact.
“It won’t be split into multiple child orders and being executed on multiple different venues. That means from a market impact perspective, we are able to provide bespoke liquidity. What I mean by bespoke is potential price improvements, higher, sizes, better presence time, and also better market impact. Because at the end of the day, the parent order will only interact with one counterpart, which will be less signaling in the market and implicit costs.”
For Eric Heleine, the possibility is of a virtuous circle for the buyside. “The level of automation is increasing because the quality of the inputs is increasing as well. That offers us to have more agility and systematic trading, and new market participants are feeding this.”
Ursus Capital has appointed Tommy Nutt as an equity trader. He is based in London.
The firm focuses on long-term investing across global listed equities.
Nutt has more than five years of industry experience, joining Ursus from his role as an equity trading assistant and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prior to this, he was an equity trader at Market Securities.
Plans for a European SEC are doomed unless the EU first harmonises divergent regulatory approaches.
The debate on the future of capital market supervision in Europe has gained momentum, particularly following European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s remarks in November about creating a European Securities and Exchange Commission (European SEC). This idea presents a significant shift from the current fragmented supervisory landscape to a centralised, pan-European authority overseeing capital markets. However, moving from the status quo to a fully-fledged European SEC would be an extreme leap. Instead, Europe should focus on improving coordination through ‘single supervision,’ a crucial first step toward eventual centralisation.
The current landscape of supervision
At present, Europe’s capital markets are overseen by a mix of national competent authorities (NCAs), which regulate financial markets within their respective Member States. While some coordination exists, through the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for example, each NCA operates under its national legal framework, leading to regulatory fragmentation. This fragmentation is a significant obstacle to the development of a truly integrated and efficient European capital market. Divergent interpretations of EU laws, varying levels of enforcement, and inconsistencies in supervisory practices undermine the goal of capital market integration that initiatives like the Capital Markets Union (CMU) seek to achieve.
Christine Lagarde’s call for a European SEC is valid in addressing these disparities, but a hasty move to centralisation could exacerbate existing challenges. Without first addressing the misalignments between national supervisors, a European SEC might face difficulties in its effectiveness and legitimacy. As Verena Ross, Chair of ESMA, pointed out, strengthening the supervisory framework before considering centralisation is crucial for building a sustainable solution.
The case for single supervision
The distinction between ‘single supervision’ and a ‘single supervisor’ is essential. Single supervision refers to the harmonisation of supervisory practices across EU Member States, ensuring that all NCAs operate under the same regulatory standards and interpretations of EU laws, without centralising supervisory powers under one body. In the banking sector, the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) has successfully applied this approach, ensuring uniform supervision for significant banks in the Eurozone and contributing to improved financial stability. However, the complexity of capital markets—comprising a broader range of actors such as asset managers, insurers, and trading venues—presents a greater challenge for creating a unified supervisory approach.
Achieving single supervision requires robust coordination mechanisms. ESMA could play a key role by setting common standards and offering guidance on the interpretation of EU regulations. Peer reviews, mutual evaluations, and enhanced data-sharing between NCAs would also help ensure uniform supervision across borders. Ultimately, single supervision would foster a more consistent regulatory environment, improve market confidence, and lay the groundwork for a potential single supervisor in the future.
Addressing three gaps
One of the main challenges of single supervision is the uneven regulatory capacity of NCAs. Some Member States have well-funded, experienced supervisors, while others face resource constraints. This creates an uneven playing field, where the quality of supervision depends on available resources. To address this, single supervision should include resource pooling and capacity-building programs to ensure all NCAs meet the same supervisory standards.
Another gap exists in the interpretation of EU laws. While EU directives aim to harmonise regulations, Member States often interpret them differently, resulting in fragmented regulatory practices. ESMA could issue binding guidelines to ensure that NCAs apply EU regulations uniformly, and better coordination between NCAs, ESMA, and the European Commission could reduce regulatory arbitrage opportunities.
The third gap concerns enforcement across Member States. Some NCAs are more proactive in enforcement than others, leading to discrepancies in how EU rules are applied. A unified supervisory framework would require not only consistent supervision but also uniform enforcement of penalties. ESMA could play a greater role in coordinating enforcement actions and ensuring consistent treatment of breaches across all Member States.
Table – Examples of diverging interpretations and enforcement of EU financial services directives and regulations across Member States
Directive/Regulation
Country
Interpretation/Enforcement
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR)
e.g. France, Germany, Italy
France: stringent approach (e.g. insider trading) and high penalties for breaches;
Italy: prioritise administrative measures over heavier fines;
Germany: more flexibility -> asset managers accessing a broader scope of research, creative fee structures.
Anti-Money Laundering Directives (AMLDs)
e.g. Sweden, Malta, the Netherlands
Sweden: stricter monitoring after high-profile scandals;
the Netherlands: aggressive stance, active monitoring even for small transactions;
Malta: lenient enforcement (e.g. cryptocurrency and gaming), scrutiny from the EU.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
e.g. France, Ireland, Italy
France: firm stance, large fines for violations;
Ireland: slower enforcement, especially with large tech companies;
Italy: middle-ground approach, more compliance warnings before fines.
Notes: Red represents a strict or rigorous approach. Yellow indicates a moderate or flexible stance. Green signifies a lenient or more relaxed approach.
Single supervision as a prerequisite for a single supervisor
Creating a European SEC or another centralised supervisor would be a logical step only after single supervision is fully implemented and functioning. Without harmonised supervisory practices, a centralised authority would be overwhelmed by the existing disparities across Member States. The transition from decentralised to centralised supervision would be smoother once all NCAs are aligned with common supervisory standards.
A phased approach is needed. First, single supervision would ensure that all NCAs operate within the same framework. Over time, as these practices become entrenched, discussions about creating a single supervisor, such as a European SEC, could be revisited. By that point, the necessary structures for consistent supervision and enforcement would be in place, making the transition more feasible and effective.
Conclusion
The proposal for a European Securities and Exchange Commission is an appealing long-term goal, but it should not be pursued hastily. The establishment of a single, centralised supervisor is not a one-size-fits-all solution for Europe’s capital markets challenges. Even in the US, the SEC faces significant criticism despite its long-standing role. For Europe, the priority should be to strengthen the current supervisory system by improving coordination, consistency, and enforcement. A move towards single supervision would address regulatory fragmentation and create a more harmonised environment, laying the groundwork for a future transition to a European SEC.
In this context, single supervision is a practical and necessary step forward. It offers a more consistent framework for national regulators while preserving flexibility. Once the NCAs are operating under a unified supervisory system, discussions about a European SEC can be grounded in practical realities, rather than idealistic ambition. Until then, efforts must focus on enhancing coordination and harmonisation across Europe’s capital market supervision to build a robust and integrated financial system.
Dr Apostolos Thomadakis is Head of Research at the European Capital Markets Institute (ECMI) and Research Fellow at the Financial Markets and Institutions Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).
Natixis and Generali are in talks to merge their wealth management divisions, according to industry reports.
French firm Natixis holds €1.3 trillion in AUM, while Italy’s Generali is a far smaller player with just €840 billion. If the merger is completed, the resulting more than €2 trillion asset manager would be in Europe’s top five.
The partnership would follow a similar Earlier this year, BNP Paribas entered negotiations to acquire the smaller AXA Investment Managers for €5.1 billion. If completed, this would create a €1.5 trillion European asset manager.
UniCredit has also dived back into the asset management space this year, launching a €10 billion bid for BancoBPM earlier this week. The acquisition would make the bank the third largest in Europe by market cap.
Both Natixis and Generali declined to comment on the reports, with Natixis parent company Groupe BPCE stating that it had “no comment on [the] rumors market”.
In June, the group included implementing partnerships to boost its growth model as part of its 2030 strategic plan. “We are creating industrial and financial partnerships to do better, do more, drive change and invent,” it stated. “Partnerships enable us to gain in quality and scale to provide our clients with optimum service.”
SIX has appointed Bjørn Sibbern as CEO, effective 1 January 2025. He replaces Jos Dijsselhof, who has held the role since 2018.
The exchange reported €848.5 million in total operating income over H1 2024.
Sibbern has been with SIX since the start of the year as global head of exchanges and a member of the executive board. With more than 20 years of experience, he served as president of European markets at Nasdaq before joining the group. Alongside this, Sibbern sits on a number of boards including the BME board of directors.
Dijsselhof will depart the company at the end of February 2025, joining an as of yet undisclosed Middle East-based firm.
Thomas Wellauer, SIX chairman, stated: “We have been able to appoint a proven and highly connected capital markets expert from our ranks as new CEO. Bjørn has the necessary international expertise and leadership qualities to further pursue and accelerate the growth path of SIX.”
Earlier this year, head of SIX Swiss Exchange Christian Reuss stepped down after more than a decade in the position. The role is currently held in an interim capacity by Werner Bürki, head of trading.
LSEG Head of Equities Alexandre Hardouin discusses how access to accurate data and advanced analytics support traders in achieving best execution.
Alexandre Hardouin, Head of Equities, London Stock Exchange Group, explains how their Workspace platform provides traders with reliable market data, volume and price analytics, and tools for comparing execution venues, allowing for well-informed trades and seamless integration with other essential applications.
This video clip is from the recently released Global Trading / LSEG documentary Life Cycle of a Trade: Joining the Dots.
As the UK IPO market continues to dwindle and London becomes an increasingly unattractive place to list, the Investment Association has resurrected a decade-old FIX project advocating for the automation of the equity IPO process.
Currently, IPO and secondary market placement require sell-side brokers to manually gather information from sources to place orders. This process has a high likelihood of mistakes due to human error, and amendments to orders before they reach the syndicate book can mean investors are unaware of their commitments, or exposed to incorrectly-placed or received orders.
“This manual process is archaic and needs to be improved,” affirmed Adam Conn, head of trading at Baillie Gifford, and chair of the Investment Association’s equity trading committee. “The IPO process has always been the standout in the sense that it’s so manual. Generally, there’s a desire to automate and electronify where possible. It makes no sense to keep it the way it is. If people want to do it manually, they can. But if you don’t have to, why would you?”
The initiative has been developed from a 2015 FIX Trading Community project, which outlined the benefits of straight-through processing in the IPO process. “Other things took over – MiFID, Covid and various other issues,” Conn told Global Trading. “Now, firms are looking at it again. I think there’s more buy-in now to get it done, there’s very strong demand from buy-side firms and support from a number of capital markets teams.”
Between November 2023 and October 2024, IPOs in the UK raised US$1.19 billion according to Bloomberg data. This put the jurisdiction in 15th place globally, below capital raised in the Malaysian ringgit (US$1.5 billion), the Polish złoty (US$1.7 billion) and the Omani rial (US$2 billion). It narrowly surpassed the Taiwanese new dollar (US$1.16 billion) and the Russian ruble (US$1.13 billion). At the top of the rankings, IPOs in the US dollar raised US$47.59 billion – and does not have an automated IPO system.
Attempts are already in place to improve the UK’s IPO landscape, with the FCA making major changes to the country’s listing rules this July. Similar efforts are being made in Europe, with the European Council simplifying the listing process for EU companies in a bid to keep startups in the region.
“Like all change projects there will be initial investment required, but the benefits will be a net positive to the industry,” Conn stated. According to the Investment Association, these benefits include greater transparency and efficiency, reduced risk and the ability to place orders out of market hours. The risk-mitigating system would allow asset managers to ensure orders pass pre-trade compliance checks in line with relevant mandates before they are sent on to deal managers, the report added.
In the allocation process, designated counterparties would fill orders through a vendor or platform. On the sell side, automating IPOs through a ‘portal’ would allow deal distribution to be broadened and standardised while cutting error-related costs, the paper said. The association advises that buy- and sell-side firms adopt third-party service vendors to facilitate this transition, rather than building solutions in-house. This will minimise the infrastructure changes required, and further reduce costs.
Beyond IPOs, automation and electronification are key focus areas across equity capital markets (ECM) and beyond. This practice should eventually cover all book-building processes on the ECM desk, the paper says, noting that “the efficiency gain from further electronification does not start with and stop at the IPO process”. Automation projects should take a long-term approach, it continued, with the capability to cover the secondary market.
“The intention is that when we get this to work, it could be adopted across different regions. It’s not designed purely to be a European-only project or process. The hope is that over time it will become the standard,” Conn added.
In its call for action, the Investment Association concludes that market participants across the industry must collaborate for this project to succeed: “This transformation is not about enhancing individual firm’s operations but about elevating the entire market structure to a new level of efficiency and transparency.”
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