The Wematch Team reflects on what has been a milestone year for our company and the Wematch platform.
Our number one priority has been gearing up for growth. Off the back of Series B funding rounds which secured US$28 million in total, we have enhanced our team to better meet client needs, help us grow into new markets, and help build new capabilities into the platform.
Alongside our growing Team, we have also expanded our footprint. In addition to our London, Paris, Tel Aviv, and New York operations, 2022 saw us open our new APAC office in Singapore. We also boosted our North American footprint with new hires, supported by our CEO Joseph Seroussi who has relocated to the U.S. We are now better able to service clients no matter where they are, and we plan to continue this growth in the years ahead.
2022 has been a year of innovation at Wematch as we continue our mission to digitalize dealing workflows. Key additions include a new RFQ workflow for our Securities Financing platform, which allows lenders and borrowers to seek bids or offers in specific names with specific conditions related to corporate events.
Also on our Securities Financing platform, we have launched new capabilities around Total Return Swaps (TRS) and Sales to Trader, bringing new levels of digitalization, efficiency, and risk mitigation to financial institutions. With TRS from Wematch, clients benefit from a complete universe of capabilities, inclusive of trading and lifecycle management, reducing complexity and increasing operational efficiency. Our new Sales to Trader module further benefits users by enabling seamless workflow and communications between clients, sales teams, and traders in the TRS market.
2022 also saw the launch of our new Risk Netting Service, a new feature of our Interest Rate Swaps platform that automates Euribor IRS hedging, enabling bulk trades to be initiated and closed in 10 minutes or less, multilaterally, and across the whole curve. Our Service transforms unwanted dealer positions into fresh mid-market exit liquidity.
Innovation and continual, feedback-based improvement are key to what we do, and so is having the best possible partners to add further value to clients. In 2022, we announced new partnerships that will benefit Wematch users.
Our collaboration with HQLAX, the distributed ledger for securities finance and repo, is a case in point. Through the partnership, any of the 90 legal entities and 900 traders on our platform who are also HQLAX clients are now able to input securities lending indications of interest on our trade execution platform, with post-trade settlement confirmed by the HQLAX ownership transfer platform.
In October, we joined HQLAX, J.P. Morgan, and Ownera in a collaboration that demonstrated the technical feasibility of executing a delivery-versus-payment (DvP) repo transaction across two different distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms at HQLAX and J.P. Morgan. This project demonstrates both the power of industry-wide partnerships and the fact that blockchain is increasingly ready to make the leap from industry labs to the Street.
As always, we have been out and about talking to the industry at trade events. Most recently, our Shane Martin, global head of securities financing sales, took part in a panel entitled ‘Securities Finance: The Future’ at this year’s Securities Finance Technology Symposium. We are also proud to have hosted a series of events in London, Paris, and New York. These events are an essential component of our product development ethos as they enable us to work proactively with our clients to build the platform they need.
Finally, Wematch’s 2022 has been marked by several important awards wins that demonstrate our innovation credentials. Key wins include Trading System of the Year and Innovation of the Year at the Securities Finance Industry Excellence Awards; and, for the second year, the Best Securities Financing Platform EMEA by the International Securities Finance Survey by Global Investor Magazine.
2022 was a busy year for the Wematch Team, and one that puts us in a good position to deliver for our clients in 2023 and continue to transform dealing workflows for the better. Bring on 2023!
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