ICAP, part of TP ICAP, announced the launch of its European equities special situations desk. The new team will work alongside the US special situations desk that has been headed by Humeyra Nicolas since 2008.
ICAP believes there are significant growth opportunities for its equities business and has made key hires in this area. In 2019 Corey Davide was hired from Bloomberg Tradebook as European Head of Electronic Trading to launch ICAP’s global equity electronic trading offering and this new desk is a key part of that strategy.
The desk will identify and support trading activity in stocks involved in special situations, including M&A and rights issues. ICAP offers clients access to over 60 primary exchanges and more than 40 dark pools to find liquidity and execute trades. ICAP believes an increasing number of corporates will look to drive growth through acquisitions and is therefore committing resources to this area.
Clients will have access to a proprietary specialist pairs trading engine, liquidity across global markets and commentary from specialists with industry experience. A strong global team based in London, New York and Hong Kong will ensure comprehensive coverage across all trading time zones.
The European team is led by Meb Namajee who joined TP ICAP recently. He previously worked at Citadel, Lehman Brothers and Kepler Cheuvreux. He has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Science, Economics and Management from The University of Oxford.
Corey Davide, ICAP’s Head of European Electronic Trading said: “The special situations desk is an exciting opportunity to build on the firm’s global reputation and infrastructure. We are investing in both people and technology at a time when other firms are retrenching from the equity space.
“I’m delighted that Meb has joined the team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and will ensure our clients are provided with specialist advisory and execution services. We believe this will be a major differentiator and is part of the growth plan for our equity business.”
