Bank of America has acquired Financial Labs, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based trading firm specialising in algorithm-driven pricing and trading in foreign exchange, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition, which includes Financial Labs' team of mathematicians and astrophysicists, was structured as a purchase of selected assets.
Mark Werner, head of global markets, Bank of America, says: "Building on our success in electronic trading in equities, the Financial Labs acquisition accelerates our already strong momentum in FX electronic trading, and positions us to extend our expertise into other markets."
The US west coast bank has already built a strong franchise in algorithmic trading for large cap equities and is fine-tuning models for mid-cap stocks. The Financial Labs acquisition effectively propels the bank into new asset classes.
Founded in 2003, Financial Labs was one of the first proprietary trading firms to be permitted to operate on EBS and Reuters. It also functions as a market-maker on these platforms.