Polish Broker Taps SunGard for DMA

Polish broker AmerBrokers has taken the Valdi direct market access (DMA) trading platform from SunGard.

As interest in Eastern European markets continues to grow, Philippe Carré, global head of connectivity for SunGard's capital markets business, says Poland is the poster child of the region.

AmerBrokers is regulated by Komisja Nadzoru Finansowago (KNF) and is a member of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), which in 2011 had the highest growth rate in the number of listed companies. Carré says SunGard’s Western European clients have expressed greater interest in Central and Eastern Europe over the last couple of years.

"Eastern European countries have had a huge catch-up in terms of growth in the last couple of years—we are talking about countries that are experiencing or have experienced growth between 3 and 8 percent every year, Carré says. “Some of these countries have been suffering lately, due to the ongoing financial crisis in the West, but some have done relatively well, with Poland being the poster child of those since it never suffered contraction of GDP, even when all of us in the West were in that position."

The WSE is overhauling its trading engine technology this year, with a complete revamp set to take place by the fourth quarter of this year, culminating in the installation of NYSE Euronext's Universal Trading Platform (UTP).  Competitors in the region include the Central and Eastern Europe Stock Exchange Group (Ceeseg)—a collaboration of markets from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Austria—and a cluster of smaller exchanges from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Moldova and Serbia.

Some Eastern European countries have been suffering lately, due to the ongoing financial crisis in the West, but some have done relatively well, with Poland being the poster child of those since it never suffered contraction of GDP, even when all of us in the West were in that position.

"The WSE has taken a very proactive, almost aggressive view of promoting themselves as the financial hub in the region, and they've probably played that card quicker and better than the Ceeseg, which now is trying to integrate all of its four markets into one," says Carré. "But if you look at the underlying economies for Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and even Austria, none have fared as well as Poland, meaning that as a consequence the stock exchange in Poland has done better than the Ceeseg group. So, you can be very successful, but you need to be working in a framework that is itself successful, and the Polish economy has been very successful over the last couple of years."

Carré says there is no reason why the Polish market will not see continued success over the next few years, despite the lingering economic gloom that still overwhelms much of the West.

"The Polish market has had a series of very good years, and I think it will continue in 2012," he says. "You have to look at the current investment climate, which is troubled, so they will not be spared. But they have managed to continue growing and attract new listings, especially from regional companies that are looking to get access to international capital and investors, but which would probably have difficulty getting listed in NYSE Euronext or in the London Stock Exchange, given their size and the specificity of their markets. For a lot of these companies, Warsaw gives them the possibility to access an international investor base, so I think we will still see quite a lot of new listings on the Polish market this year."