Horizon Software: coping with the compliance burden

Firm’s head of electronic trading says EU regulation choking options market liquidity

Sylvain Thieullent, Horizon Software

When Horizon Software launched in 1998, it was a simpler time for the global equities and options markets, says Sylvain Thieullent, the firm's chief executive of electronic trading for the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The firm was able to concentrate on providing equity and equity derivatives trading software to its core user base of investment banks without worrying too much about local market idiosyncrasies.

The picture today is very different. "When you talk to people in the