James Toffey Joins GFI to Head Up Electronic Markets

James Toffey, the former founder and former CEO of Tradeweb and most recently of Benchmark Solutions, a bond and derivatives pricing service, has joined GFI Group as global head of electronic markets.

The move is a sign that wholesale brokers are gearing up to launch swap execution facilities or SEFs after rules were finalized by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month.

All the interdealer brokers, including GFI, ICAP and Tullet Prebon have announced plans to set up a swaps execution facility or SEF, the new trading platforms established by Dodd Frank. But they will face other new competitors including Bloomberg LP, TradeWeb, which is majority-owned by Thomson Reuters, and MarketAxess, noted a story from Bloomberg News.

In his new role, Toffey will be responsible for spearheading GFI’s electronic marketplaces for professional traders and market makers of cash and derivative financial and commodity products, according to today’s announcement.

Toffey co-founded Tradeweb Markets LLC, an electronic trading network for bonds and derivatives, in 1997 whose owners include Wall Street’s largest investment banks. Toffey served as CEO and President through 2008. Tradeweb is now majority owned by Thomson Reuters. Toffey was responsible for developing electronic markets for fixed income and equities and for creating workflow solutions for financial market professionals.

In the release, Colin Heffron, CEO of GFI Group, cited Toffey’s extensive knowledge and market leadership in the electronic trading of OTC and listed products. “Jim will provide critical leadership to our eCommerce team at this crucial time when we are launching our regulated trading platforms in the US and Europe.”

After leaving Tradeweb, Toffey served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Warburg Pincus LLC, and then went on to found Benchmark Solutions, a real-time pricing service for corporate bonds and credit default swaps funded by Warburg Pincus. However, the data service was recently forced to shut its doors when funding ran out after 18 months of operations, according to media reports.

“I am delighted to come on board at GFI Group at this dramatic inflection point in global trading markets,” commented Toffey in the release. “GFI has a rare combination of well-developed trading liquidity among all major market participants, tremendous in-house electronic development capability and a dynamic and highly creative management team. I know we are going to do some exciting things together.”

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio