Former Fidelity Clearing Canada Executive Takes Top Role at Omega ATS

TORONTO, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Omega ATS has appointed Mike Bignell, former SVP of Operations and Chief Compliance Officer for Fidelity Clearing Canada (FCC), as President and CCO. The announcement comes on the heels of a recent matching engine upgrade and new pricing schedule, both of which contributed to the ATS's 1134% increase in trade volume over a one year period starting in July, 2009.

While at FCC, Bignell worked with team members from Tactico, the international advisory firm that purchased a 24% equity stake in the ATS in February 2010. As the highest ranking operations employee at FCC, Bignell was responsible for overseeing the development of the firm's operational and compliance policies and procedures and supervising day-to-day activities including registered plans, corporate actions, dividends, custody, metrics development, reporting and customer service.

Eric Stoop, Omega ATS Chairman, spoke about the appointment: "Since Tactico took on the Omega mandate in December 2009, we provided executive management and strategic direction, upgraded the matching engine and successfully implemented a new pricing schedule. The trading venue is now poised for extreme growth and we are confident that Mike, with over 25 years of experience in every aspect of the securities business, is going to exceed even our most aggressive expectations for success."

Bignell commented on the opportunity: "It is rare for a business to see an 1134% increase in any growth statistic over one year - let alone its most important metric. The trading venue's current profitability and aggressive growth combined with market factors such as Alpha no longer offering equity for volume, make this a compelling challenge for me. I am committed to capitalizing on the current upward trending success of the ATS until it eclipses the competition."

Prior to FCC, Bignell served as EVP, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Director at Standard Securities Capital Corporation where he was responsible for the recruitment and supervision of all registered and non-registered staff members and the creation, development, implementation and internal enforcement of all operational and regulatory procedures. Other previous work engagements include NBCN Correspondent Network, Dean Witter Reynolds and CT Securities Services. His expertise includes self clearing, introducing and carrying brokerage firms. He has worked at the senior management level for more than a decade.

About Omega ATS

Omega ATS is an alternative trading system for Canadian exchange-listed equities. It provides a fast, price/time priority trading platform where dealers and their clients can trade at the CBBO (Canadian Best Bid and Offer) at extremely competitive rates.  It has more than 70 subscriber firms including Canada's five largest dealers. The system is designed to maximize internal order processing speed – minimizing the time between when an order is received and an acknowledgement is sent. The company rewards liquidity providers with time priority over other marketplaces and is committed to keeping its marketplace fees as low as possible. For more information, please visit www.omegaats.com.

SOURCE Omega ATS