EBS, the electronic FX division of British conglomerate ICAP has made substantial changes to its senior management, with two of its well respected company executives having been promoted to new leadership roles.
Darryl Hooker has been appointed Head of EBS Market, whilst Viral Tolat has assumed the position of Global Head of Product for EBS. Both Mr. Hooker and Mr. Tolat will report to Gil Mandelzis, CEO of EBS, and continue to be part of EBS’s Executive Management team.
In his new role, Mr. Hooker will lead the continued development of EBS Market, EBS’s flagship, global leading anonymous trading platform. Mr. Hooker has served at EBS and other ICAP subsidiaries for more than 15 years, most recently as Head of Strategic Currency Initiatives.
Additionally, he has led many successful initiatives at EBS, including the launch of EBS’s Russian Ruble campaign, resulting in EBS’s dominant OTC market position. More recently, Mr. Hooker managed the growth of EBS’s CNH proposition, which resulted in increased volumes, market share and presence. Darryl will be based in London.
As Global Head of Product, Mr. Tolat will be responsible for the expansion, development and maintenance of a fully integrated product suite. He will be working closely with the business lines to ensure EBS’s existing products (including EBS Market, EBS Direct and EBS Liquidity Optimization), and the new strategic offerings that will be coming to market this year, are aligned and meet customer and market needs.
Mr. Tolat was previously Chief Technology Officer at EBS, and will retain these responsibilities which include overseeing the continual enhancement of EBS’s technology offering to remain at the forefront of technological leadership in the market. His new position will be based in New York.
Gil Mandelzis, CEO of EBS, said: “EBS Market is a tremendous asset to EBS, ICAP and the whole FX market. As such we are dedicated to its continued investment and are focused on initiatives that will drive further growth. Darryl has consistently led EBS’s growth in various products, working in close partnership with customers, regulators and the EBS team. He has delivered consistently against key strategic initiatives, which resulted in a material increase in trading over the EBS platform and helped our customers take advantage of changing market dynamics. I am confident Darryl’s energy, drive and expertise will enable us to further grow EBS Market.”
Commenting on the appointment of Viral Tolat as Global Head of Product, Mr. Mandelzis added: “Over the past two years, EBS has transformed from a single product to a multi-product company. We are live today with EBS Market, EBS Direct and EBS Liquidity Optimization, with new products and initiatives in the pipeline that will bring added liquidity to our customers. This requires us to think differently about product discipline, infrastructure, processes and technology. Viral’s unique ability to work effectively with business and technology people, coupled with his vision and leadership, will assist EBS in developing strong product discipline whilst maximizing product innovation.”
Mandelzis further commented: “I am thrilled Darryl and Viral are taking such significant roles in leading EBS to the next stage of its journey.”
Nichola Hunter and John Schoen, former co-heads of EBS Market, have left the company.
On this subject, Mr. Mandelzis said: “Nichola and John have led significant and successful efforts over the past couple of years in the face of an extremely complex and challenging environment. They have worked tirelessly and achieved great results in leading our flagship platform and developing a number of significant initiatives around it. We, at EBS and ICAP, are grateful for their longstanding contribution to EBS and wish them all the best in the future.”
Recent volume figures for EBS are beginning to allude to the division coming out of the doldrums, however with close competition from FXall constantly in sight, the firm has elevated two highly experienced executives in order to steer its future.