Merrill Pushes Global E-Trading : Wall Street Letter

Jarrod YusterMerrill Lynch has quietly completed the build-out of its global electronic trading network with new offerings in algorithmic trading, crossing and derivatives execution. Jarrod Yuster, head of global portfolio and electronic trading, has spearheaded the initiative to build the full suite, complete with prime brokerage and risk management, and provide the same trading services across the globe. Though the firm at large has faced write-downs, the electronic trading business has been booming and Merrill is getting ready to take on competitors to dominate buyside desktops. WSL Executive Editor Veronica Belitski caught up with Yuster to talk about his goals.

WSL: Now that Merrill Lynch has completed the build-out of its global electronic trading suite, what are your priorities?

Yuster: The number one area we are focusing on is continuing to build out our scale and capacity. We've also been expanding the number of global markets at which we co-locate our hardware for speed of execution and messaging, which now include numerous global exchanges in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Japan and Australia.

The second area where we have been placing importance is the continued expansion of our electronic trading offering into more global markets. We have been complementing our vast global exchange memberships with electronic connectivity to these markets. We have been adding electronic trading capabilities in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Russia, India, Brazil and Mexico.

The third key area is leveraging all of the products and resources at Merrill Lynch. For example, we've tightly integrated electronic trading and prime brokerage and clearing. We have a tremendous amount of scale, so we can be competitive with any other broker in terms of our services and pricing.

The fourth area is other asset classes. In addition to our strong equity electronic trading platform, we have one of the largest options trading platforms in the U.S. with 8-9% market share. We are also growing our electronic offering in futures, FX and fixed income.

Our fifth key focus area stems from the significant changes we are seeing in global ...

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Merrill Pushes Global E-Trading

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