Clear Street, a cloud-native financial technology firm on a mission to enhance the brokerage ecosystem, announced the launch of Clear Street UK, following recent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval.
Clear Street UK was reportedly approved as a Category 1, Ring-dealing member by the London Metal Exchange (LME).
The launch of Clear Street UK is a key step in Clear Street’s expansion plans outside of North America, throughout the UK and into “broader markets, including across Europe.”
Ed Tilly, President and CEO-Elect of Clear Street said they are building a global, full-service institutional business “powered by their cloud-based, financial technology platform and their teams who provide financing, derivative products, execution services and more, empowering our clients for success across geographies, asset classes and mandates.”
Tilly added that the UK is a critical market for us as “a financial hub worldwide and a gateway to Europe and beyond.” They also mentioned that they are pleased to make their mark “official in the UK, with its transparent, strong and proven regulatory framework, liquid markets and vast institutional investor population.”
Jacinda Fahey, CEO of Clear Street UK and Europe stated that the UK’s market dynamics and its role “as a bridge to Europe make it an unparalleled choice for our international expansion.”
Fahey added that their success in the US has “demonstrated the value of their technology-driven approach, and they are excited to bring their client-centric solutions to this new market.”
Clear Street has been approved as a Category 1 Member at the LME, the world’s largest market “for industrial metals, a group that formerly had just seven members.”
This membership places Clear Street among a group with direct access to the LME’s trading floor, “known as the Ring, as well as electronic trading via LMEselect and the inter-office market.”
The membership gives Clear Street access to global reference prices for the metals community and allows the company to “issue LME contracts, execute trades on behalf of institutional clients, and clear transactions seamlessly.”
Chris Smith, CEO of Clear Street Futures said that this is a significant milestone in their global growth strategy which “immediately adds to our client service capabilities, particularly for many clients in Asia and the Middle East who value the Ring’s open outcry trading for official pricing.”
Smith added that with a dedicated London-based team in place, they are confident in our ability to deliver “value to clients across EMEA, Asia and beyond.”
Tilly continued:
“In 2024, we rapidly progressed toward our long-term vision to empower clients to access and trade all products in all markets around the world. We expanded into futures clearing and execution services, and launched clearing for registered market makers in listed U.S. equities and options. We completed an exciting strategic acquisition, and finish the year supporting a robust client base of institutional investors and market participants.”
As noted in the update, Clear Street is modernizing the brokerage ecosystem with financial technology and services “that empower market participants with real-time data and products, tools and teams, to navigate capital markets around the world.”
Complemented by white-glove service, Clear Street’s cloud-native, proprietary product suite delivers “financing, derivatives, execution and more to power client success, adding efficiency to the market and enabling clients to minimize risk, redundancy and cost.”
Clear Street’s goal is to create a single platform for “every asset class, in every country and in any currency.”