November 28, 2005 Refco breakup continues as Man sheds London business by Elliott Aykroyd Before its purchase of Refco assets had even been fully finalised, Man Group last week brokered a management buyout of Refcoâs London businesses to be backed by New York-based asset management firm Marathon and headed up by former Refco Europe MD Mark Slade. According to a statement released by Marathon, the Refco assets to be purchased comprised its London futures, FX and financial brokerage operations including sales, trading, administrative, IT and exchange clearing businesses. Also included was Refcoâs large share of repo business cleared on LCH Clearnet. It remained unclear at press time whether or not the deal was to include subsidiaries, Refco Trading Services (Refco TS) or EasyScreen, acquired by the firm in March 2003 and March 2005 respectively (see FO Week Vol 8 No 10 and and Vol 10 No 11). The status of trading arcade Refco TS â formerly Macfutures â was unknown. It had been reported that the firm was part of Manâs acquisition, but managing director Ollie Jones refused to comment on the firmâs ownership. Market sources had suggested that Man was looking to divest itself of Refco TS, with one saying that its London operation was to be sold and the US business sold or wound down separately. Marathon said that the Refco assets being acquired employed more than 300 people in several European countries with approximately 2,000 customer accounts. The sum paid was not disclosed, but Marathon did say that it had also agreed to take on some liabilities. It remained unclear also whether or not these were to include potential legal payments to ISV Trading Technologies should the latter win its patent court case against Refco. Slade, who was set to become CEO of the newly established entity, said, âWe are thrilled to finally establish clarity for Refcoâs European business lines as there was an obvious overlap with Man Financialâs London based business. Marathon is the ideal managing partner for our business given its keen interest and understanding of our business.â The new entity being formed to acquire the former Refco European business was to be renamed in the coming days. Marathon was part of a prior bidding group that lost out to Man Financial in the Refco auction which took place on 10 November. According to Marathonâs statement, shortly thereafter the firm approached Man to purchase the European Refco assets that Man had little interest in retaining. A Man statement said that it had decided to sell the businesses because of âthe high level of client overlap with its own London operation.â Rebuilding Bruce Richards, president of Marathon, said, âWe are very excited to have purchased Refcoâs European assets and business operations, which we believe hold extraordinary value creation potential. The unmatched customer, product and market knowledge of Refcoâs employees, coupled with Refcoâs extensive systems and infrastructure network, make these businesses one of the premiere European platforms for futures commission trading and clearing services.â Richards went on to state, âGoing forward, we are committed to implementing an immediate recapitalisation plan aimed at rebuilding our customer base, retaining our talented employees and restoring the trust and respect of all our key partners, including the regulators and exchanges in the many European markets in which Refco trades.â In a joint statement, Slade and Richards outlined the immediate plans for the new business: âOne of our first priorities will be to implement new financial, compliance and legal controls across our businesses that reflect current best practices in each of these areas. We also plan to make a substantial investment in new technology and infrastructure that will allow the company to maintain a leadership position in exchange and non-exchange traded futures and options.â The new board of directors will include Slade, Gavin Prentice, director, global head of metals, Julian Courtney, director of compliance, and Mark Hanney, director of finance. Other members were to include Bruce Richards, who was to serve as chairman of the board, Andrew Rabinowitz, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Marathon, who will also serve as a board member with oversight of financial, compliance and legal initiatives and Adam Phillips, head of European investments. (Copyright: FO Week)
That's what I have heard, I have been told that the name change is going to take place in a couple of weeks and RTS will be called MAREX trading, once this is done TT will be coming back in.
Some people I know trade at RTS/Marathon in London. Several of them now say they prefer Refco Pro to X-Trader now. I don't necessarily think this is a reflection of either platforms functionality, just an issue of liking what you are used to from an ergonomic view. It must be a pain in the neck to have to keep switching every quarter. I would keep with Refco Pro just for consistency and to differentiate my shop from the others. Anyway, I don't trade there!
I do and I want to keep pro, things like rolling depthtrade contracts takes 2 clicks, on TT it's a pain in the arse, also right click trading on TT executes on the button upclick whereas on pro it is on the downclick. There's loads of little advantages and it's like £500 a month cheaper basic price. All exchanges you trade are included in the pro price whereas they are itemised as extra charges on TT. I don't know if they'll run the two together. TT is coming back but IT say it could be next week or 2 months away, no date has been negotiated yet
Check this out <<ATT00634.txt>> Ex-Refco Trader Priston Starts New Firm, Shuns Man Group Offer 2006-01-05 09:19 (New York) By Hamish Risk Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Refco Inc.'s biggest independent futures trader, Andy Priston, is starting a firm in Montreal with 9 ex-Refco colleagues, after shunning an offer from Man Group Plc, which bought the collapsed broker's main assets in November. Priston, 28, is setting up the unit for CFT Financials Ltd., a London-based futures trading company. He plans to hire as many as 15 more traders in Montreal, Priston said in an interview. The city offers tax breaks to trading firms to attract businesses. Refco was the fourth-largest U.S. futures broker before its Oct. 10 disclosure that former chief executive Phillip Bennett hid $430 million of debt. London-based Man Group, which paid $323 million for Refco's futures business, offered Priston a role running the broker's trading unit in Montreal, which he declined. ``Man is a big and bureaucratic place, so it takes time to get things done,'' Priston said. ``Futures traders are very short-term in nature and so need to be nimble on their feet.'' Lachlan Johnston, a spokesman for Man in London, declined to comment. CFT is a so-called trading arcade, a business that rents space to self-employed traders and hires people to speculate with the firm's cash. They make money from fees to settle trades and the charges they levy for the use of their trading facilities. Priston bought and sold more futures contracts than any other independent dealer at Refco Trading Services, the London- based arcade business with offices from Gibralter to Miami, according to Andrew Duncan, who was chief operating officer at RTS until September last year. Duncan is now a CFT consultant. Braveheart Priston has an estimated wealth of 10 million pounds ($18 million), according to the U.K.'s Sunday Times ``rich list.'' Renowned for the size of his trades, dealers nicknamed him Braveheart after Mel Gibson's hero in the movie of the Scottish uprising against English rule. CFT hopes to attract traders to Montreal because of a 75 percent tax holiday given to firms and employees that trade international securities in Quebec's largest city, Priston said. The trading firm is a joint venture with First Continental Trading LLC, a Chicago-based futures broker that clears, or guarantees, the company's trades. CFT aims next month to double the number of independent traders in London to 34, Nick Cella, 26, a partner at the firm, said in an interview. CFT plans to open an office in Beverly Hills, California, in the next two months, and then Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai to trade contracts on currencies, interest rates and commodities, Priston said. Futures are agreements to buy or sell assets at a set date and price. Man sold Refco's European operations in November to Marathon Asset Management LLC because of an overlap with its own businesses. Refco lost staff since it filed for bankruptcy in October. BNP Paribas SA hired a seven-member commodities trading team from the broker in December, while investment bank JPMorgan Cazenove picked up a sales team advising hedge funds on arbitrage strategies. In November, Refco sued eight former traders and the firm that hired them, claiming they stole customers. --Editor: Reierson