I spent a few days in Poland at the start of the month and came away with impressions of vibrancy, confidence and entrepreneurial spirit. There can hardly be two more different countries than Poland and Brazil but for me the optimism and upbeat attitude of Warsaw stands comparison with that of Sao Paulo when I was head of trading connectivity for SunGard’s Americas division five years ago.
Capital city of the only European nation not to fall into recession, Warsaw is the financial hub of an economy that is still moving forward. Some of the Polish economic success can be put down to foreign direct investment – investment in infrastructure over the last few years has certainly been impressive – but the Polish government has also enacted some very market-friendly policies. Most notable of these is its energetic privatization program: partial IPOs were successfully conducted in the past year for the country’s largest power companies, state-owned banks and commodity producers.
The Polish equities market is also flourishing and the boom looks certain to continue: there is a large, financially literate retail client base which has an appetite both to participate in domestic IPOs – of both state enterprises and smaller private companies – and to invest abroad. Technical changes in prospect at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) itself only add to the interesting environment: the exchange will move to NYSE Euronext’s UTP platform next year and will no longer take responsibility for equipping its members but will focus on getting its infrastructure absolutely right.
Polish brokers have lost no time in seeking out partners to facilitate connectivity both to the WSE and to foreign markets. SunGard is experiencing significant interest from Polish brokers: SunGard has a hub within Poland and can not only offer our Valdi suite of solutions for trading, risk management, market data, and local connectivity but also connection to the SunGard Global Network to route orders and data across the globe to support global DMA and introducing broker businesses.
Many Polish brokers are looking to make a quantum leap both in terms of function and capacity. They will see benefits throughout the trade lifecycle, from compliance and credit to algorithmic execution, and they will still have the choice of either self-hosting or accessing our solutions on an ASP basis, fully leveraging SunGard’s infrastructure. Whichever option they choose they will be optimally situated to service both Polish and foreign investors.
Related press releases:
XTB Selects SunGard’s Hosted Solutions for Warsaw Stock Exchange Connectivity
September 7, 2011.
XTB, a leading Central and Eastern Europe brokerage firm based in Poland, has selected SunGard’s Valdi suite of integrated market data, risk management and trading solutions to connect to the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
Erste Securities Polska Chooses SunGard’s Valdi OMS & Warsaw Stock Exchange Connectivity
June 29, 2011.
Erste Securities Polska, a leading Polish brokerage firm, has selected SunGard’s Valdi, a suite of order management and trading solutions that will also help it connect to the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
SunGard Global Network Expands Connectivity and Routing Options for Customers
June 1, 2010 — London & New York
SunGard is nearly doubling the trading venues and markets its customers can access by bringing together its three global network solutions for routing equities, listed derivatives and fixed income orders to form the SunGard Global Network (SGN).
Related customer testimonials:
KBC Securities Poland, the Polish branch of KBC Group’s equity house, implements SunGard’s Valdi to offer a fully integrated trading system to manage client orders across multiple markets for both Polish investors looking to trade internationally and for international investors looking to trade in the Polish market.
