Witad Awards 2018 Write-Ups: Vendor Professional of the Year—Veronica Augustsson, Cinnober Financial Technology

With Augustsson at the helm, a position she assumed in September 2012, Cinnober delivered on four fronts during the course of 2017: there were a number of go-lives at stock exchanges and clearinghouses around the world; the firm undertook a share issue to fund a new subsidiary, Minium, which provides real-time, post-trade technology and services to investment banks, launched in October; and in May, Cinnober acquired London-based market surveillance provider Ancoa Software—not bad for 12 months.

“Last year was more than business as usual,” Augustsson confirms. “We transformed pretty much during 2017: We prepared for Mifid II, we set up a subsidiary (Minium) to do the clearing for banks, and then we acquired a market surveillance company (Ancoa). We saw an opportunity to leverage the experience we had built up with exchanges and clearinghouses over the last 15 to 20 years and use it in a more scalable market. So it was a hectic year and a big strategic move for us.” 

Augustsson assumed the reins at Cinnober at the age of 33, having joined the firm as a developer in 2002 before moving into more client-facing roles. “The good thing was that internally, I had worked more or less with everyone in the firm—they knew me and could make up their minds about whether I was capable or not because they could see what I had done. I had also worked with most of the customers. I don’t think they looked at me from a gender perspective, but rather in terms of competence.” 

Augustsson admits that she did have her doubts during her first 12 months in charge, but they receded once she had familiarized herself with the day-to-day practicalities of her remit. “The CEO’s role came earlier than I thought and during my first year I was always a bit worried about whether I was missing something. But after a year, I was comfortable with what one cycle looked like and I knew about everything that needed to be done.”