Rolfe & Nolan names new chairman

UK derivatives back-office vendor, Rolfe & Nolan, has appointed John Hamer as its new chairman.

Hamer replaces Tim Hearley, who stepped down as chairman after 20 years' service in February 2003 when the company was purchased via a management buy-out. Hearley remains a non-executive of the company.

Hamer is also chairman of royalblue, a front-office trading services vendor for the US, European and Asian equity markets. He has worked for royalblue since 1983, becoming chief executive in 1991. During his tenure, royalblue revenues rose from £2 million to £60 million.

The move is the latest in a string of initiatives by the company designed to boost confidence among customers and shareholders. Rolfe & Nolan’s share price started to slide in late 2000, prompting the company to rpelace chief executive John Lodge in September 2001 with Bob Freeman – previously Rolfe & Nolan’s European managing director.

However, the company’s share price continued to languish. Rolfe & Nolan rejected a £12.5 million offer from Boston-based back-office technology company onExchange in July last year, opting instead for the management buy-out backed by European private equity finance company HgCapital Funds.

The company has also been rolling out its new modular system for derivatives processing - Merlin - which will replace its dated RANsys and Risc back-office products. Officially launched in June this year, the project has had backing from UBS Warburg, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

On completion, Merlin will consist of 10 modules, namely brokerage, cash and collateral management, commissions, customer reporting, exchange feeds, interest, price capture and distribution, margin, regulatory reporting and trade and position management.