Smith Joins OptAxe

FX options trading venue OptAxe has added to its management team with the hire of Chris Smith as chief business development officer. Smith joins from Commonwealth Bank in London, where he was head of FX sales for the UK and US, prior to which he held senior FX sales roles at Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Citi and Credit Suisse.

OptAxe recently received FCA authorisation to operate as a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF), a critical step in the company’s process, as the founders explained to The Full FX in this video. The platform promotes axe-driven trading in FX options. Smith joins recent hires Lynsey McAllister, who was named head of operations, and Dave O’Brien who has been hired as a senior developer, both of whom joined in the last two months

“OptAxe brings the opportunity for change that market participants have sought for many years,” says Smith. “By centralising FX option liquidity discovery and execution, OptAxe is providing a solution of true scale that unlocks trading opportunities and offers new market intelligence for all sides of the market. What’s more, I believe the OptAxe approach will lead to a more democratised market where both buy and sell-side participants are able to access liquidity in a more efficient and data-driven fashion. We bring innovative technology to the marketplace that will automate manual, bilateral processes and provide a ‘single source of truth’ for FX options liquidity.”

Chris Jackson, CEO and co-founder of OptAxe, adds, “What we have set out to do is to bring a new approach to axe-driven FX options and empower trading participants with actionable insights from centralised liquidity information. Now that we have received our FCA licence to operate an FX options MTF, we are ready to move into our next phase of growth.

“Having known Chris for many years, I have witnessed his passion for the sector and how he strategically embraces innovation to automate workflows, drive efficiencies and empower teams to focus on higher-value activities,” he continues. “He is an incredibly well-respected industry practitioner who has a deep understanding of industry dynamics, the evolving regulatory landscape and client needs. His experience will be invaluable and we look forward to working with him.”