The TRADE’s most read stories of the year part one: Major departures and acquisition milestones

Perhaps one of the biggest stories to break at The TRADE this year was the departure of industry legend Dr Robert Barnes from his role as chief executive officer of the London Stock Exchange Group’s Turquoise.

Announced on the eve of Leaders in Trading 2023 on 2 November, Barnes’ departure was followed by his being named as The TRADE’s first Industry Person of the Year in a live vote on the night. Upon collecting the award, he received a standing ovation from the room after giving an impromptu but inspirational speech.

Barnes departs from LSEG’s MTF at the end of this year after serving as its chief executive officer for the last nine years. He joined in 2013 to replace Natan Tiefenbrun following his departure for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Previously, Barnes was the founding CEO of UBS MTF. Under his tutelage, UBS MTF became the largest dark MTF in Europe, competing against fellow leading venue the CXE dark pool, operated by BATS Chi-X Europe. He also previously sat on the Securities Trading Committee for the London Investment Banking Association, serving as chairman from 2004-2009.

It is not yet known where his next move will be or who will replace him. Scott Bradley was also announced as a departure from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) as the trading venue looks to simplify its leadership across asset classes.

The TRADE is renowned for its people moves page and so it’s no surprise that up next up in our most read stories for 2022 was the news that hedge fund Millennium had selected a former Morgan Stanley executive, Grant McAllen, to take on a new trading role in June.

McAllen joined the hedge fund after most recently serving at Morgan Stanley for the last eight years as part of its MSET – Morgan Stanley Electronic Trading – platform. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2014, McAllen spent three and a half years at Barclays Capital in a client onboarding and equities trading services role and a year at Instinet and Fidessa in FIX connectivity-focused roles.

At number eight in The TRADE’s most read stories for this year was the announcement in January that BNP Paribas had completed its transfer of Deutsche Bank’s global prime finance and electronic equities business two and a half years after agreeing the deal.

BNP Paribas agreed to take on Deutsche Bank’s clients in July 2019 after the German institution confirmed it would exit equities sales and trading and prime finance in a major restructure. Almost $200 billion of assets was expected to move to BNP Paribas as part of the deal.

The combined unit – along with the referral of clients from Credit Suisse – was predicted to proposal the bank into the top tier of prime brokers: alongside the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. In November 2021, Credit Suisse signed a referral agreement with the French bank for its prime services and derivatives clearing customers following its exit from the business stemming from the Archegos debacle.

Market maker Citadel Securities took the number seven spot for most read stories at The TRADE in 2022, with the news that it had forked out $2.6 billion in 2020 and 2021 for payment for order flow (PFOF) annually.

According to 606 reports gathered by the US’ Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), Citadel Securities spent the most on PFOF, following by Susquehanna (G1X global execution brokers), which spent a $1.5 billion and Virtu which spent $654 million in the same period.

The story proved to be a timely one as regulators across the globe have begun to pay more attention to the practice following lobbying from participants throughout the course of this year. It’s proved a contentious subject globally, with regulators in Europe and the US exploring the possibility of limiting the practice as some claim it does not channel flow – much of it coming from the mushrooming retail segment – based on best execution.

While the US looks like it is no longer planning to place a blanket ban on PFOF, the proposed limit of the practice is still very much on the table in the UK and Europe. How this plays out remains to be seen.

Check back in tomorrow for our most read stories of the year from six through to four.