Entry into Japanese market

RNS Number : 2813K

First Derivatives PLC

16 April 2010

 



16 April 2010

First Derivatives plc

("First Derivatives" or "the Company")

First Derivatives enters the Japanese market

First Derivatives (AIM:FDP.L, IEX:GYQ.I), a leading provider of software and support services to the financial services industry is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a contract for Delta RealStream with AFT, one of the leading Japanese online Foreign Exchange ("FX") brokers. AFT has selected Delta RealStream, one of First Derivatives' FX software solutions to be the platform which AFT will deliver to its institutional and retail clients to trade foreign exchange. AFT will launch its service in the Japanese market under the MarketLink brand. The contract is a transaction based agreement, whereby First Derivatives will benefit from a proportion of the revenues generated through the use of the system by AFT's client base.

First Derivatives announced on 15 February 2010 that the Company had acquired the assets, including the entire intellectual property rights of Cognotec. Those intellectual property rights included Delta RealStream. Since the acquisition, First Derivatives has further invested in the development of this product by broadening its functionality, offering the entire platform in Japanese and making it fully compliant with the extensive Japanese regulatory requirements. The signing of this contract represents an important milestone in First Derivatives' ambitions to be a major player in the Japanese FX market.

First Derivatives, CEO - Brian Conlon commented: "It is estimated that the Japanese market accounts for over 25% of the global retail FX market. The contract with AFT gives First Derivatives the necessary platform to grow its share of this lucrative market. It is also a further endorsement of the decision by First Derivatives to acquire Cognotec, including its talented research and development team. This is the first in a number of major deals that we anticipate signing with leading FX brokers."

Delta RealStream is a comprehensive, integrated platform that enables brokers and banks to offer web-trading to their FX customers. It includes a powerful front-end trading suite, with extensive back-end controls to manage credit risk. It also generates and manages pricing by cleansing, blending and distributing rates through predetermined pricing channels. One of the key features of Delta RealStream is its ability to connect users to multiple pools of liquidity. Whilst adopting market standards, the connectivity tools have been optimised to deliver low latency connectivity to major liquidity sources, facilitating flexibility in sourcing liquidity and ensuring best bid/offer execution.

First Derivatives, Head of APAC Operations - Paul Phillips further commented: "the contract with AFT in Japan provides the necessary impetus for First Derivatives to further expand its operations in Asia, building on our existing operations in Australia, China, Singapore and India. The opportunity to cross-sell other First Derivatives software solutions, as well as support and consulting services to Japanese clients is significant. We have a proven business model which works and will apply this to the Japanese market, as we continue to grow our Asian footprint."

Enquiries:

First Derivatives plc	Tel.       [phone]
Brian Conlon, Managing Director	Web.     www.firstderivatives.com
Graham Ferguson, Finance Director
Charles Stanley Securities	Tel.       [phone]
Nominated Advisor
Russell Cook
Carl Holmes
Goodbody Stockbrokers	Tel.       [phone]
IEX Advisor
Diane Hodgson
Linda Hickey
Finbarr Griffin
ICIS Limited	Tel.       [phone]
Financial PR
Tom Moriarty
Caroline Evans-Jones
Fiona Conroy
Stakeholder Communications PR - Ireland Carl Whyte John Hart	Tel.        + 44 (0) 2890 339949

About First Derivatives

First Derivatives is a global provider of software and consulting services to the financial services industry. With almost 15 years experience working with leading financial institutions, it continues to deliver technologically advanced, award winning products and services that anticipate and respond to the evolving needs of global capital markets.

First Derivatives currently employs over 450 people worldwide and counts many of the world's top investment banks, brokers and hedge funds as its customers. It has operations in London, New York, Stockholm, Shanghai, Singapore, Toronto, Sydney, Dublin, Newry and Hong Kong.

About AFT

AFT is one of the leading on-line FX brokers in Japan and has extensive experience in servicing the Japanese FX market. It is a member of the Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ) and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Japan.

 

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