Omega ATS has appointed Mike Bignell, former SVP of operations and chief compliance officer for Fidelity Clearing Canada, as president and CCO, the alternative trading system for Canadian exchange-listed equities said Thursday.

The announcement comes on the heels of a recent matching engine upgrade and new pricing schedule, both of which contributed to the ATS’s 1134% increase in trade volume over a one year period starting in July 2009.

While at Fidelity Clearing Canada, Bignell worked with team members from Tactico, the international advisory firm that purchased a 24% equity stake in the ATS in February 2010. As the highest ranking operations employee at Fidelity Clearing Canada, Bignell was responsible for overseeing the development of the firm’s operational and compliance policies and procedures and supervising day-to-day activities including registered plans, corporate actions, dividends, custody, metrics development, reporting and customer service.

“The trading venue is now poised for extreme growth and we are confident that Mike, with over 25 years of experience in every aspect of the securities business, is going to exceed even our most aggressive expectations for success,” says Eric Stoop, Omega ATS chairman

“The trading venue’s current profitability and aggressive growth combined with market factors such as Alpha no longer offering equity for volume, make this a compelling challenge for me,” says Bignell. “I am committed to capitalizing on the current upward trending success of the ATS until it eclipses the competition.”

Prior to Fidelity Clearing Canada, Bignell served as EVP, chief compliance officer, chief operating officer and director at Standard Securities Capital Corporation where he was responsible for the recruitment and supervision of all registered and non-registered staff members and the creation, development, implementation and internal enforcement of all operational and regulatory procedures.

Other previous work engagements include NBCN Correspondent Network, Dean Witter Reynolds and CT Securities Services. His expertise includes self clearing, introducing and carrying brokerage firms. He has worked at the senior management level for more than a decade.

IE