Virtu Financial setting its sights on China
Virtu Financial Inc, one of the world's biggest high-speed trading firms, wants to set up shop in China.
Virtu, which uses automated market-making strategies to buy and sell everything from stocks to currencies and commodities, is in the early stages of that project, Chief Executive Officer Doug Cifu said. Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore's state-owned investment firm, owns a stake in Virtu and has opened doors for the company in China, he said.
"We will be partnering with, we think, the best local partner in the region to enter that marketplace," Cifu said on Wednesday during a conference call with analysts to discuss Virtu's first-quarter earnings. "We haven't done anything yet in terms of trading. We certainly have begun very significant preliminary discussions, negotiations and structuring of a way for us to get into that marketplace."
