Erste Group adds Orc Electronic Execution solution with Orc FIX Access for connectivity

Orc, a global leader in derivatives trading technology, today announced a multiyear contract with Erste Group Bank AG. A longtime Orc client, Erste Group’s Equity Capital Markets team has used Orc for trading and market making, in particular on Erste’s own structured products. By migrating to Orc’s Electronic Execution platform, including the Orc FIX Access connectivity product, Erste Group has now consolidated legacy market access gateways into a coherent, manageable and expandable framework, while significantly reducing complexity and infrastructure cost.

Orc FIX Access allows any FIX-enabled trading system to use Orc's native exchange gateways for reaching 150+ global execution venues covering all major asset classes. By replacing existing infrastructure with normalized market connectivity using Orc FIX Access, Erste Group has reduced their total cost of ownership as well as execution risk. Multiple legacy applications, including the institutional order routing system, have migrated to the new Orc infrastructure.

“We were pleased to recognize how Orc’s consolidated trading and connectivity offerings meet both our present requirements and future plans,” said Marcus Hemetek, Head of Organization Global Capital Markets, Erste Group. “We appreciate Orc’s product roadmap, and are very impressed with the quality and skill of Orc’s services offering, which we will utilize for a number of critical development efforts.”

Orc Professional Services has assisted Erste Group in key projects related to their systems migration, including development of connectivity interfaces providing access to regional OTC markets via a common FIX interface, and a synthetic order service.

“We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with Erste Group by providing their advanced trading solutions as well as their electronic execution platform,” said Lee Griggs, President EMEA, Orc Group. “Our launch of Orc FIX Access has had a very favorable reception from the market, and the successful implementation by Erste Group will certainly serve as an example for other firms.”

Orc Professional Services helps clients optimize and customize their trading technology solutions to meet each specific business requirement. Orc’s expertise is thus available for driving change, executing technical projects and ensuring cost efficiency in business development.