SEOUL, South Korea – May 1, 2007 – BGC, a leading inter-dealer broker, providing integrated voice and electronic services for wholesale market participants worldwide, today announced the opening of a new office following the grant of a licence to offer Foreign Exchange brokerage services in Seoul, South Korea, thus expanding BGC’s global footprint within the financial markets and further strengthening BGC’s position as one of the world’s leading inter-dealer brokers.
Based in the heart of Seoul’s financial district, BGC’s new office will commence operations on Monday the 14th May following approval of an onshore foreign exchange licence by the South Korean Ministry of Finance and Economy. The approval will enable BGC to provide new and existing clients with brokerage of interest rate swaps, credit rate swaps, forward rate agreements and basis swaps.
Choi Se Woong, Managing Director of BGC’s Seoul office will initially head up a team of brokers and be responsible for BGC’s expansion of products and services within the fast growing foreign exchange market in Korea. Mr. Choi has over 20 years experience within the financial markets and will report to Mark Webster, President Asia Pacific and Mark Spring, General Manager Asia Pacific.
BGC sees Korea as an important market to further enhance its existing product and service capabilities in the Asia region, whilst also migrating onshore to aid the growth and development of the local Korean foreign exchange brokerage market. BGC will seek to expand its product offering, subject to official approval, as the office grows and develops in the future.
The opening of a Korean office represents an ever increasing presence in the Asia-Pacific region for BGC which now has offices in Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney and a representative office in Beijing.
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Choi said, “I’m pleased to be joining BGC as it continues its global expansion and I look forward to working with local clients even more closely now that we have a base in the country.”
Mark Webster said, “We are totally committed to the Asia-Pacific region and are delighted to be opening an office in the heart of Seoul, a key centre of finance for the region and a key part of our Asia strategy. We will look to not only expand our own business offering here, but to also aid and develop the expansion of the rapidly growing foreign exchange market in Korea.”
Shaun Lynn, President of BGC added, “We are excited about the increased level of activity we are seeing within the Asian markets and look forward to serving our clients locally from Seoul. In addition to our Seoul office, we will continue to look for further opportunities across Asia in the near future.”
BGC’s worldwide offices include London, New York, Copenhagen, Nyon, Milan, Paris, Mexico, Beijing, (representative office), Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.
About BGC
BGC Partners is a leading inter-dealer broker, providing integrated voice and electronic services for wholesale market participants worldwide. BGC is active in the global fixed income, interest rate, foreign exchange and derivative markets, offering both telephone and screen-based price discovery, trade execution, straight-through processing and access to electronic trading services from eSpeed Inc. (Nasdaq: ESPD). The firm, named after fixed income trading innovator B. Gerald Cantor, has offices in London, New York, Copenhagen, Nyon, Milan, Paris, Mexico, Beijing (representative office), Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Sydney.
To learn more, please visit www.bgcpartners.com.
Media:
Adrian Thomas – UK
+44 (0) 20 7894 8647
athomas@bgcpartners.com
Annabelle Duncan – Asia
+65 6512 3357
aduncan@bgcpartners.com