Mubasher Financial Services (MFS), a leading brokerage house in the Middle East, said it has joined hands with Fidessa group to offer Direct Market Access (DMA) into GCC and extended regional markets.

Fidessa group is a leading provider of multi-asset class trading, portfolio analysis, compliance, market data and global connectivity solutions for the buy-side and the sell-side globally.

This partnership gives the 400-plus brokers and 2,300 buy-sides already on the network a direct route into any of the GCC markets, as well as a number of other Middle Eastern exchanges, said a top MFS official.

Nick Wright, head of Institutional Brokerage at MFS, said: 'Mubasher has always been driven by the aim of developing and providing pioneering technology to the Middle East and our current plans include expansion into every Islamic market.'

MFS is in the unique position of being able to offer DMA into all the GCC markets, as well as Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Turkey. MFS customers also benefit from local brokerage services in Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco, he stated.

An execution specialist, MFS is a leading provider of Western-style institutional trading services for the Middle East. In addition to its DMA connections, MFS is also developing trading algorithms specifically for the Middle Eastern markets.

'Working with Fidessa, with its global reach and reputation, is an important step for us in opening up the Middle Eastern markets to the sell-side and buy-side globally and we look forward to building a strong partnership with them in the future,' Wright noted.

Edward Manley, regional manager for the MEA at Fidessa, said MFS has really pioneered electronic trading in the Middle East and the partnership promises to bring exciting benefits to both sides.

'For the brokers and buy-sides on Fidessa's global network, the connection to MFS opens up a wealth of possibilities in the Middle East region. Not only does MFS act as a local routing destination with a trading desk, but its DMA connections mean that an order could go straight through to market without any delay,' he added.

Since the official launch of Fidessa’s Middle Eastern operations at the start of 2009, Fidessa has expanded the range of services it offers across the region and in October announced that investment bank, EFG Hermes, had joined its global network.

In the first half of 2009, Fidessa’s global connectivity network has continued to increase its traffic by more than 20 per cent and now carries flow with a value of $600 billion a month.-TradeArabia News Service