< The 2016 Trading Technology 40

Over-the-counter trading is for stocks too small or otherwise unready for exchange listing. OTC Markets Group offers these companies a systematic and economical way upstream, operating three platforms that are progressively more disciplined and less “exchange lite,” says CEO R. Cromwell Coulson. With 10,000 securities, including a growing cadre of community banks and international companies’ American depositary receipts, on his firm’s systems, he’s like a proud parent. Running the company and continually upgrading its technology since 1997, Coulson over the past five years has seen nearly 400 companies, including 60 in 2015, graduate from his platforms to “main boards” operated by Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. Comparable figures from two peer markets, Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange and London Stock Exchange Group’s AIM, were each in single digits. An equally significant point of pride for a corner of the securities markets historically snubbed as substandard: “We had 100 percent core system reliability last year,” says Coulson, 49, who’s more than happy to be in the too-big-to-fail league, even if his company is below the most elite tier. The CEO sees New York–based OTC Markets filling a void for entrepreneurs left behind by Nasdaq’s upgrade to exchange status in 2006. The firm’s objectives center on the transparency of data and the connectivity of market participants. “There are risks in this market,” Coulson explains. “We drive transparency so risk is appropriately priced. Our platform makes it easier for dealers to build clout around the liquidity they offer.” For young companies OTC Markets offers “a place to go when you’re trying to figure it out.” Among those launched last year on the top-level OTCQX platform: Bitcoin Investment Trust. “We are an open market where entrepreneurs like Barry Silbert [CEO of the trust’s sponsor, Grayscale Investments] are welcome without a lot of pain, cost and complexity,” Coulson says.

 
2016 Trading Technology 40Click below to view profiles

1. Raymond Tierney III Bloomberg 2. Richard Prager BlackRock Model Portfolios to Deliver Alternative Asset Exposure Sponsored by BlackRock April 29, 2025 3. Chris Isaacson BATS Global Markets 4. Jonathan Ross KCG Holdings 5. Bradley Peterson Nasdaq

6. Brad Levy Markit 7. Dan Keegan Citi 8. Ronald DePoalo Fidelity Institutional 9. Raj Mahajan Goldman Sachs Group 10. Ari Studnitzer CME Group

11. Mayur Kapani Intercontinental Exchange 12. Gerald O’Connell CBOE Holdings 13. Nicholas Themelis MarketAxess Holdings 14. Gil Mandelzis EBS BrokerTec (ICAP) 15. Bill Chow and Richard Leung Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

16. Rob Park IEX Group 17. Philip Weisberg Thomson Reuters 18. John Mackay (Mack) Gill MillenniumIT 19. Robert Cornish International Securities Exchange 20. Paul Hamill Citadel Securities

21. Eric Noll Convergex 22. Tyler Moeller and Joshua Walsky Broadway Technology 23. Rishi Nangalia REDI Holdings 24. Veronica Augustsson Cinnober Financial Technology 25. Alasdair Haynes Aquis Exchange

26. Manoj Narang Mana Partners 27. Gaurav Suri Arcesium 28. Robert Sloan S3 Partners 29. Anton Katz and Stephen Mock AQR Capital Mgmt 30. Stu Taylor Algomi

31. D. Keith Ross Jr. PDQ Enterprises 32. Donal Byrne Corvil 33. Alfred Eskandar Portware 34. R. Cromwell Coulson OTC Markets Group 35. Masayuki Hosaka Rakuten

36. Peter Maragos and David Karat Dash Financial 37. Amar Kuchinad Electronifie 38. Jennifer Nayar SR Labs 39. Dave Snowdon Metamako 40. Dan Raju Tradier