Italian Investors Gain Access to New Trading Capabilities with Optiq Platform Migration

The Italian trading community can now enjoy enhanced trading capabilities and access to a broader range of products, thanks to the successful migration of Borsa Italiana's derivatives market onto Euronext's Optiq platform.

Borsa Italiana Completes Migration to Euronext's Optiq Trading Platform

The move follows Euronext's acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Cash and Derivatives markets exchange in April 2021. Euronext, a pan-European stock exchange and market infrastructure, has replaced Borsa Italiana's previous Millennium and SOLA technologies with its Optiq trading platform.

The migration began in March 2023 with the equity segment and continued in October 2023 with the bond segment and has now concluded with the successful transition of derivatives clients. In the meantime, Euronext sold its stake in a clearing house LCH for €111 million,

With its FastTrade trading solution, LIST has played a crucial role in facilitating a seamless transition for its clients. "After successfully migrating equities and bond cash markets during 2023, we're delighted to have now seamlessly migrated the derivatives market for all our clients," said Vito Mangiaracina, the Chief Technology Officer at LIST.

The FastTrade solution, designed as a low-latency, multi-asset electronic trading system, offers advanced trading functionalities and a normalized connectivity architecture. This has allowed for a smooth transition to the Optiq technology, minimizing operational risks and transition costs while providing investors access to a broader range of products and new functionalities.

"The migration to Euronext Optiq technology for the derivatives market was a challenging and risky project but, thanks to the extraordinary preparation and cooperation of all the involved parties, the project was a great success,” Flavio Mazzarotto, Chief Services Officer at LIST, added.

Euronext New Executives and Repurchase Program

A month ago, Euronext revealed changes within its executive team, including appointing a new Head of Sales for its Electronic Communication Network (ECN) used for exchange trading. Additionally, it announced the appointment of a new leader for its Singapore office at the start of the month. Nicolas Jégou, CEO of Euronext FX, disclosed via social media that Stuart Parris, a five-year veteran at the company, has been promoted to Head of Sales. Parris joined the ECN's team in 2018, originally serving as the Sales Director in EMAA Sales to Asset Managers.

In January, the pan-European market operator initiated a share repurchase program, highlighting its robust cash generation capacity. This program, capped at €200 million, demonstrates Euronext's dedication to a disciplined capital allocation strategy and reflects the company's ongoing efforts to manage its debt levels while preserving its credit rating.