ICAP Names Seth Johnson Head of EBS BrokerTec Trading Venue

(Bloomberg) -- ICAP Plc named Seth Johnson as chief executive officer of its EBS BrokerTec electronic-trading unit, it said in a statement.

Johnson was head of strategy at ICAP’s Global Broking division and has worked for the company for more than 20 years. He replaces Gil Mandelzis, whose resignation was announced in July. The unit operates fixed-income and currency trading platforms.

“I am looking forward to working with the company’s outstanding management team and staff to grow the business and to realize and monetize the investments made to date,” Johnson said in the statement.

London-based ICAP, soon to be named NEX Group Plc, is shedding its legacy voice-broking business to focus on its electronic markets and trading services. The $1.5 billion deal with Tullett Prebon Plc includes the sale of ICAP’s name.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of this news organization, operates a rival trading platform.

ICAP’s foreign-exchange volumes have fallen in recent years amid growing competition. Interdealer brokers such as ICAP saw their share of currency trading drop to 39 percent in 2013 from at least as high as 63 percent in the late 1990s, as major banks conduct more transactions internally, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Detrixhe in London at jdetrixhe1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Trista Kelley at tkelley2@bloomberg.net, Sam Mamudi, Richard Frost