Paris-based Etrali Trading Solutions, a global provider of unified communications solutions and services for the financial service trading communities, and with over 450 staff and distributors in 50 countries, today announced that it is deploying its entire trading communications suite across Société Générale’s (SocGen) new trading floor in Paris.
According to the official corporate press release, the contract with SocGen includes Open Trade, turret positions and recording services, and SocGen will also connect to Etrali’s Trading Community Services network, TCSnet.
Etrali Trading Solutions' OpenTrade Product
As part of a series of roll-outs by SocGen, the combined work between Etrali Trading Solutions and SocGen’s IT and Sourcing departments have supported this initiative, which following the August launch in the NY operation – will include Paris going live by December (as per todays’ news), and subsequently more turrets for European cities (Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Luxembourg) that are scheduled to follow in Q1 2014, according to the announcement.
Communications Systems for Efficiency and Regulatory Compliance
According to a description in the official press release, part of the expected benefits from Etrali, includes its Trading Solutions’ partnership with leading recording vendors which ensure that institutions can record voice calls from Open Trade, as well as deploying mobile recording solutions (where needed) for complete traceability of traders’ activities and regulatory compliance. At SocGen, this service will be complementary to the TCSnet dedicated trading network, which connects the financial community to its global counterparties, for bespoke brokering services.
The need to support and monitor communications are both critical to brokerages, and the latter, regarding monitoring - was brought under the magnifying glass following ongoing investigation of global Forex dealers and subsequent attention surrounding chat-room communications between dealers and staff. This highlights the importance of complying with current and future regulatory requirements pertaining to voice recording and transcribing correspondents between departments and externally for major dealers. Such stringent oversight of communication can acct to deter or detect as a preventative measure or investigate subsequently any related allegations of company policies or regulatory rules and laws being violated (that could be recorded for future review).
Commenting in the corporate press release, Bertrand Lemarignier, Global CTO of Societe Generale said, “The first Open Trade migrations within Société Générale have been positively acknowledged by our front office, with the turret’s overall design, touch screen and innovative interface simplifying access to call functionalities. In addition, since the new system provides a pure IP architecture we are able to easily integrate the trading telephony with our existing business software tools.”
In addition to its broad reach in banking and related foreign exchange, and backed by significant sales volumes with all kinds of clients, through its Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division, SocGen offers a client-driven, full-service FX model in a broad range of currencies in FX spot, forwards, Swaps , options and structuring, including support multi-dealer platforms and via its single-dealer platform, Alpha FX.
Formerly Known as Orange Trading Solutions, Prior to Acquisition
Originally founded in 1965, having been recently acquired by private equity firm The Gores Group in June 2013, Etrali was a subsidiary of French Telecom Orange, under the name Orange Trading Solutions, and was subsequently rebranded as Etrali Trading Solutions as a stand-alone company, following the acquisition which closed in June.
Mr. Lemarignier added in the announcement, “The Etrali Trading Solutions' management and project team have played an integral role during our first implementations, providing a flexible and supportive approach to development in line with our needs. We continue to work with them, designing global Open Trade topologies to provide enhanced collaboration and mobility between our trading floors.”
Lionel Grosclaude, CEO at Etrali Trading Solutions
Lionel Grosclaude, CEO at Etrali Trading Solutions said in the corporate annoucment, “Société Générale’s global roll-out of Open Trade highlights the fact that trading isn’t a local undertaking anymore. Constant connectivity across multiple communications media is the reality of the day and our solutions are designed with this in mind. Société Générale’s traders can operate from anywhere on the globe and be presented with the same interface they see at their desks, safe in the knowledge they are fully compliant at all times.”
After rebranding to Etralis Trading Solutions, Mr. Grosclaude had maintained the role as CEO following the acquisition from The Gores Group, where he was CEO of Orange Trading Solutions for 4 years and prior to that its COO, and had been with Orange.com the French Telecom giant since as early as 1998, according to information on a Linkedin profile description for Etrali's Chief Executive.
Private Equity
According to the press release regarding the acquisition in June, Mr. Grosclaude stated in an official announcement regarding the deal with The Gores Group:
“This is an incredible opportunity for the Company to partner with Gores. Their exceptional track record and operationally focused approach will provide the support that Etrali Trading Solutions needs for continued growth and prosperity. Their ability to invest significant capital into the business will allow us to broaden our product portfolio and provide the increasing amount of services that our customers demand.”
According to that announcement, The Gores Group is the new majority shareholder of Etralis Trading Solutions, which has since been part of its broad portfolio of private equity investments into technology companies, as per information on its corporate website, which as of September 30, 2013 lists $3.4 billion in assets under management through its investment interest as a private equity firm. Etralis Trading Solutions maintains offices in 11 countries, and its coverage encompasses more than 50 financial markets, including presence in the world’s 15 leading financial centers, as described on its corporate website.
