Credit Suisse is reorganizing its execution services business to better compete with the likes of Virtu and Citadel Securities.
The Swiss bank named electronic trading veteran Anthony Abenante to a new role heading global execution services within its equities unit, according to an internal memo seen by Business Insider. The position will bring together the high touch, program trading and electronic trading groups under a single umbrella, as they were previously run separately. Abenante will report to Mike Stewart, who joined Credit Suisse in 2017 from UBS to head up equities.
Abenante said in an interview with BI that the new structure will hopefully enable Credit Suisse traders to incorporate technology more efficiently into their day-to-day to give clients a better experience. It also means the bank will be able to go up against nimble competitors in the high frequency trading world.
“How do we incorporate machine learning to help our sales traders be better at their job?” Abenante said. “Ultimately this will make for a much more efficient desk, exchanging information at speeds you couldn’t imagine today.”
Other changes to the group announced in the memo include: John Comerford to run execution products; Doug Crofton, Jim McKeever and Gerry Milligan to continue to run America’s execution; Chris Marsh and Stuart McGuire to head EMEA execution; and Julian Corner as COO for global execution services.
“In line with our Equities growth strategy and building on our historical strength in the space, this new business structure will allow us to focus on technological innovation within our execution business and foster closer collaboration across product lines to deliver best-in-class service to our clients,” Stewart said.
Credit Suisse is bolstering its equities business in the US more broadly with new senior talent as it tries to grab market share from leaders Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Stewart has said he wants to make Credit Suisse into a top five equities player.
Alexander Englander joined the bank in May as the head of equity sales in the Americas from Barclays, Business Insider previously reported.
The build out also comes as banks reported record equities revenue in the first quarter, as volatility sparked and markets whipsawed back and forth on account of fears of a potential US trade war.
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