Citadel Securities and XTX Markets have signed up as launch partners for the live implementation of Cobalt's FX post-trade processing network, a DLT-based platform founded by currency trading veterans Andy Coyne and Adrian Patten.
Set to launch later this year, there are currently 22 beta participants on Cobalt’s peer-to-peer network including Citi, which became a Cobalt investor in 2016, and Cobalt’s technology partners including SETL, First Derivatives and Tradepoint.
Offering a repository of unique and reconciled FX contracts, BlueSky manages life-cycle events, risk reduction and prepares trades for settlement finality. The firm claims that in enabling a single, shared view of a transaction the peer-to-peer network will free up back and middle office resources that currently have to reconcile across multiple systems, streamlining the post-trade process and significantly cutting costs.
With beta testing underway, Cobalt is also expanding its core team and opening an office in New York. Devika Darbari joins Cobalt as COO from JDX Consulting where she was a Board member and CEO Americas. She will also head up operations in the US.
Markit's Jon Light has also signed up as head of product. Fixnetix alumni Steve Nelson has been installed as head of solution delivery and support.
These latest hires follow the appointment of Charlotte Crosswell, former Nasdaq NLX CEO, as strategic advisor for Cobalt in December 2016.