The fintech company registered an SBSD on January 4th

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE) — Capitolis, the technology company reimagining financial markets, officially announced that its subsidiary, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC, is conditionally registered as a security-based swap dealer (SBSD) as of January 4th. The company’s ground-breaking equity swap financing solution will operate within this structure.

Capitolis was established six years ago to enhance the safety, stability, and vitality of the financial markets. Capitolis’ solutions bring in additional capital to support the financial markets and eliminate unnecessary risk and complexity, so that the system can thrive for the benefit of all. Registering a security-based swap dealer is an additional way, and the next step, in which Capitolis will continue to bring its mission to life.

“After close to a year in the making, we are pleased to have registered a security-based swap dealer,” said Gil Mandelzis, Founder & CEO of Capitolis. “Capitolis looks forward to continuing to fulfill the needs of our clients by building solutions that promote the safety of the system, unlock capital efficiency, and enable growth and prosperity for all.” 

Capitolis has experienced exceptional momentum coming into 2023 and continues to support the financial markets with diversified capital, ensuring a vital and healthy ecosystem for all.

Enhanced solution significantly reduces the amount of time, risk and resources clients need for multilateral SA-CCR optimization

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets, has completed its thirteenth Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) run this year, marking the first multilateral exercise completed within a single day. A single-day execution is a momentous one for multilateral optimization, allowing for increased network participation despite volatile and uncertain markets and the resource constraints among participants. 

Same-day execution greatly reduces clients’ time, risk and resources associated with optimization exercises, which can normally take up to 5 days. Capitolis’ latest enhancement to its portfolio optimization technology establishes a new benchmark for front-to-back execution timelines in the complex capital optimization space. The single-day exercise enabled clients to schedule an additional run in a busy quarter-end and during a volatile month in the market.

“The optimization market still operates, in general, over multiple days and up to one week, the way it has been for the past 20 years. This process takes too long, introduces too much risk to the banks and takes too many resources,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO & Founder, Capitolis. “We believed in the vision of same-day, electronic and ultimately on-demand optimization, and this milestone achievement is a big step forward in the realization of our vision. Working closely with our clients, we have been able to make significant progress following the rollout of SA-CCR and we look forward to continuing to build upon bringing increased optimization efficiency and flexible options to the market.”

The SA-CCR framework, which seeks to normalize and standardize the capital requirements on derivatives portfolios for financial institutions, has been phased in globally over the past few years to provide a uniform way to calculate counterparty credit exposures. Capitolis has been innovating with its customers to manage SA-CCR counterparty exposures and capital requirements both in preparation of the SA-CCR rollout and following its implementation.

“Offering a single-day SA-CCR optimization exercise is an industry first and enables us to respond to market needs when it’s most needed,” said Ben Townson, Head of Product for Portfolio Optimization, Capitolis. “We’re excited to continue rolling out optimization services to advance our goal of creating a healthier, safer marketplace.”

Earlier this year, following Capitolis’ strong first half of 2022, the company was named “Best Compression/Optimization Service for FX” at the June 2022 FX Markets e-FX Awards, which seeks to recognize firms that have set the bar in electronic foreign exchange trading with skill, dedication, and creativity.

Fintech company ranks in top 100 Best Places to Work in New York City for 2022

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Capitolis, the technology company reimagining financial markets, headquartered in New York City, announced today its inclusion in the Crain’s New York Business ranking of the 100 Best Places to Work in New York City for 2022.

Crain’s partnered with Best Companies Group, an independent research company, to gather the inputs and provide the final rankings. The rankings are based on an employee engagement and satisfaction survey (75% of the rating) and an employer questionnaire on benefits and policies (25% of rating).

“We are honored to be ranked on Crain’s Best Places to Work in New York City,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO & Founder, Capitolis. “This honor is a true testament to our employees that are helping build and operate a company that is good for financial markets and good for our communities, working with purpose and intention in everything we do. I am extremely proud of our team’s accomplishments and dedication as we continue to grow.”

The employee survey explores engagement satisfaction as it relates to leadership, corporate culture, work environment, training, development, pay, benefits, and employee experience, among other factors. This is the 15^th year of the study, which considers a wide array of industries throughout the New York area.

“Our people share a common set of core attributes – being Super Smart, Badass, Good Humans. This recognition as a Best Place to Work in New York City is due to our team’s commitment to putting our Company Values and People Attributes into practice every day,” said Jen Vanderwall, Chief People and Culture Officer, Capitolis. “Capitolis is all about leading with purpose while creating exceptional value, and we are proud to be an employer of choice in New York City.”

Capitolis team members play tough, with heart, and are both obsessed with the future and fanatical about executing today. For more information on Capitolis’ Company Values, please visit https://capitolis.com/capitolis-company-values/.

Head of Europe/Portfolio Optimization, Ben Tobin, joins panel to discuss impacts of uncleared margin rules, SA-CCR on FX trading desk and market structure.

Visit booth #5 to see what innovations Capitolis is bringing to the market around reduction of UMR margin and SA-CCR as well as Dealer to Client optimization

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Capitolis, the technology company reimagining financial markets, will join TradeTech FX, the largest buy side FX event in Europe. This is the first year Capitolis will have a presence on the ground at the event.

Ben Tobin, Capitolis SVP, Head of Europe/Portfolio Optimization, will join a panel of FX industry leaders on Wednesday, 9/28, at 12:55 local time to discuss how uncleared margin rules (UMR) and the Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) have impacted the FX trading desk and market structure – and share predictions for how it could influence other FX products in the future.

“We’ve been a partner and provider of optimization services to banks, hedge funds, and real money managers over the past five years,” said Ben Tobin, Capitolis SVP, Head of Europe/Portfolio Optimization. “We’ve already helped our customers reduce trillions of notional since the beginning of 2022, including optimization between the banks and their diverse client base.”

TradeTech FX attendees can visit booth #5 to discuss what innovations Capitolis is bringing to the market around UMR margin, SA-CCR, and Dealer to Client optimization; learn more through product demos; and speak to Capitolis leaders, including Ben Tobin and Evelina Rosenstein, on the ground in Amsterdam.

Since the launch of Capitolis’ brand-new technology-powered multilateral SA-CCR optimization service in early 2022, the service has been adopted by 12 of the world’s largest banks and has been heralded as a leading source of SA-CCR-based capital requirement solutions.

Capitolis’ focus for the remainder of the year is onboarding a broader range of banks, hedge funds, and asset managers to their planned optimization exercises and continuing to expand benefits to the broader network. Advances to algorithms will drive better results for existing and new clients.

Earlier this year, Capitolis was named “Best Compression/Optimization Service for FX” at the June 2022 FX Markets e-FX Awards, which seeks to recognize firms that have set the bar in electronic foreign exchange trading with skill, dedication, and creativity.

Recent progress includes growing the network to 70% of the largest global banks and driving over $1.4 trillion in savings since the beginning of the year, with increasing benefit every month

Capitolis the technology company reimagining capital markets, has gained strong momentum by doubling the number of banks taking part in its Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) runs since the beginning of 2022. Capitolis has maintained a frequent cadence of compression runs, helping this strong network of global banks reduce over $1.4 trillion in SA-CCR effective notional since the beginning of the year. Capitolis’ momentum was apparent in its recent SA-CCR run which provided clients five times the effective notional benefit than they received in the first run. The network continues to expand and both existing and new clients are seeing increased benefits from the network effect.

After a strong first half of the year, Capitolis was named “Best Compression/Optimization Service for FX” at the June 2022 FX Markets e-FX Awards, which seeks to recognize firms that have set the bar in electronic foreign exchange trading with skill, dedication, and creativity.

“The last 6 months at Capitolis have been exciting and fast-paced as the industry adapts to the rollout of SA-CCR, and we have seen great momentum in our business over a short period of time,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO & Founder, Capitolis. “We are growing our network every month and our pipeline is extremely strong. We are looking forward to rolling out additional optimization services to our growing community over the next few months further supporting healthy and safe markets.”

The new SA-CCR framework, the primary capital and leverage measure for much of the financial industry, has been phased in globally over the last few years to provide a single, standardized method by which financial institutions will be required to measure exposures and ultimately manage and capitalize against. Capitolis’ optimization exercises are delivering significant reductions in exposures calculated under SA-CCR.

“Capitolis has been a trusted partner helping us appropriately manage our regulatory requirements and free up capital through our portfolio optimization runs with them,” said Tobias Krause, Senior Managing Director, State Street.

Capitolis’ focus for the remainder of the year is on introducing new innovations to enhance its offering, with the goal of expanding its network of participants. Advances to algorithms will drive better benefits for existing and new clients under SA-CCR.

New brand identity includes a new logo, brand colors, brand purpose, promise and principles

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining financial markets, announced today its new brand strategy and visual system including a logo which signifies Capitolis’ ability to unlock the potential of the global economy. The company, which enables safe growth in financial markets, wanted its brand to reflect the differentiated experience Capitolis provides clients across its innovative solutions and services.

The new Capitolis brand is grounded in its purpose, promise, and principles — a strategic foundation and framework that reflects its deep relationships with clients, technologically rigorous solutions, and its commitment to building a model company with a focus on societal impact.

Brand Purpose:

We believe the financial markets can and should work better for everyone.

Brand Promise:

With an expansive vision of our industry, its challenges, and its potential, we tailor and scale solutions to unlock capital efficiency, democratize access to capital, and unite institutions with one another — responsibly delivering the best financial services available, at the lowest cost possible, while decreasing risk to the entire system.

Brand Principles:

1. Innovating at the intersection of finance and technology;
2. Delivering tailored solutions, at scale;
3. Transforming big ideas into real-world results;
4. Driving growth with purpose.

“We are focused on building a company that is good for financial markets and good for our communities, promoting transparency, safety, and prosperity for all,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO & Founder, Capitolis. “This new brand identity represents Capitolis’ expansive vision for the industry as we strive to innovate beyond the status quo, bringing together a blend of deep financial expertise with superb and scalable technology. We are excited to introduce our new brand as the company continues to grow.”

Capitolis underwent a highly strategic, creative, and inclusive process to develop its brand identity. The company started by gathering insights from internal and external stakeholders, engaging in conversations with Capitolis leaders and clients to get a better understanding of why they think Capitolis exists and the unique value it delivers. This culminated in a strategic story conveying the purpose, design, messaging, services, and experiences of the company.

The new slate of colors associated with the brand is designed to best reflect the company’s bold, expansive vision to lead change. Capitolis conducted an extensive audit to identify key areas of opportunity where the company could really differentiate its overall look and feel to create something that was truly unique to Capitolis.

“The more modern, dynamic logo reflects our ability to realize opportunities that unlock the potential of the global economy and create more relevant and differentiated experiences for our clients,” said Alicia Tillman, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Capitolis. “Our color objective was to stand out from the sea of blue, represent a true fintech company, balance expertise with humanity, and be bold, expressive, and human.”

Tillman joined Capitolis in November 2021 from technology giant, SAP, where she served as Global Chief Marketing Officer. Alicia led SAP to become one of the 20 most valuable brands in the world (BrandZ & Interbrand rankings). Alicia is a three-time Forbes Most Influential CMO in the World.

Capitolis will roll out a new website later this fall reflecting its new brand strategy and as it continues to rapidly scale its business.

Earlier this year, Capitolis launched its company values, which serve as its foundation for operating and its deep commitment to building a company that is innovative, changing the way financial markets operate, and promoting safety and responsibility in the overall financial system.

The Capitolis Values are:

1. We lead with purpose, while creating exceptional value;
2. We pursue big breakthroughs, responsibly;
3. We learn from the best and are unapologetically independent;
4. We are obsessed with the future, and fanatical about executing today;
5. We play tough, with heart.

To learn more, visit capitolis.com/capitolis-company-values/.

Furthermore, Capitolis defined its People Attributes that serve as characteristics describing the DNA of Capitolis employees. They provide a consistent framework to hire, assess, and develop the team against.

To learn more, visit capitolis.com/careers/.

Capitolis recognized for its skill, dedication, and creativity

Capitolis the technology company reimagining capital markets, has won “Best Compression/Optimization Service for FX” at the 2022 FX Markets e-FX Awards. The winners of the e-FX Awards were celebrated in London last week for changing the world of electronic foreign exchange trading. This is the third year FX Markets has awarded the “Best Compression and Optimization Service” category and the first year Capitolis has won. The e-FX Awards seek to recognize firms that have set the bar in electronic foreign exchange trading with skill, dedication, and creativity.

“I’m proud of the incredible team and culture we continue to create daily at Capitolis and would like to thank the FX Markets team, its panel of judges, and clients for this recognition,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and Founder of Capitolis. “We have a unique ability to bring together different thinking, technologies, execution, and strong partnerships with market participants that position us very well to continue to lead the market. Our LMKRTS acquisition has allowed us to provide our customers with the broadest and most complete trade compression solutions available in the market, powered by the best people. The combination of great capabilities, world-class engineering, and bright minds continues to set us apart.”

Now in their twentieth year, the FX Markets e-FX Awards received over 90 submissions across 22 categories. The panel of judges, which included FX Markets’ editors, weighed multiple factors including strategic clarity, growth, risk management discipline, innovation and adaptability, thought leadership, a commitment to investing in the business, and – where decisions were tight – client feedback.

The Capitolis platform enables safe growth in financial markets by reducing risk, increasing stability, and adding diversified capital to the system. Capitolis addresses its clients’ needs with tailored, specific solutions and scales those solutions for broader use across the market—enabling more organizations to drive growth, the right way— within the regulated environment.

Earlier this year, Capitolis raised $110 million in Series D funding, driven by the rapid emergence and market acceptance of its compression and marketplace solutions. The company continues to make people its most critical investment, hiring across the business to support the rapid growth and scale ahead. The combination of great capabilities and world-class team continues to improve Capitolis’ technology and drive innovations. To learn more about Capitolis, visit capitolis.com.

Varjacques brings over 30 years of senior executive and board member experience in financial technology.

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets,  announced the appointment of Gerard Varjacques as Head of Sales and executive team member. Building from a solid foundation and strong pipeline, Varjacques will scale the sales organization to the next level of client coverage, acceleration, and growth.

“Gerard has the growth mindset, experience, do-er focus, and understands our domain and product set to make immediate impact to further accelerate our progress,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO & Founder, Capitolis. “My relationship with Gerard began over a decade ago when he joined Traiana to run Sales, and later to lead Sales at EBS BrokerTec with me. In both cases he brought the sales organizations to their greatest successes, and I look forward to his contributions at Capitolis.”

Varjacques is a seasoned sales leader with a proven track record for building world-class teams with a laser-focus on execution and revenue growth. Recently, Varjacques served as Global Head of Sales at M Science, a data-driven research and analytics firm uncovering new insights for leading financial institutions and corporations, and previously, he ran Sales at EBS BrokerTec, Traiana, and also served as the CEO of GL TRADE Americas, one of the world’s leading trading solutions.

“I am honored to join Gil and the entire Capitolis team as we build towards our next phase of growth,” said Gerard Varjacques. “I am committed to taking our sales engine to the next level of focus to capitalize on the pipeline volume as we bring meaningful value to our customers.”

Capitolis recently raised $110 million in Series D funding, driven by the rapid emergence and market acceptance of its compression and marketplace solutions. The company continues to make people one of its most critical investments, hiring across the business to support the rapid growth and scale of the company for its future ahead.

Annual program focuses on supporting human service organizations
Capitolis is also taking a stand to support ending gun violence through its platform

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets, announced its third annual Capitolis Connects, a program focused on supporting national and local human service organizations. For the month of June, Capitolis will donate a portion of all transactional revenue from its platform to national and local human service organizations selected by their employee base. Employees of Capitolis will also personally volunteer their time at each of these local organizations.

With its purpose-driven culture, Capitolis is leveraging its platform to provide for organizations dedicated to helping those most in need. Here are this year’s organizations:

• Covenant House, New York – Covenant House helps transform and save the lives of more than a million homeless, runaway, and trafficked young people in the New York area;
• Compliments of The House, London – Compliments of the House is a food redistribution charity in London that collects fresh, surplus food and delivers it to vulnerable individuals and families;
• Notnim BeAhavah, Tel Aviv – Notnim BeAhavah “Giving with Love” is just that: giving to those who are in need, as equals and from love. Helping a child who’s in a state of risk, aiding families who are below the poverty line, being there for the lonely elder and turning Israel into a better place.

In addition, with the continual gun violence that plagues America’s streets and schools, Capitolis is also taking a stand on behalf of organizations that support ending gun violence from every angle. Capitolis is donating to two of these at the forefront of those efforts:

• Gun By Gun – Helps mobilize community-led gun buybacks, taking dangerous guns out of circulation.
• The Brady Plan – 100% of donations go to fund the Brady Plan and their 12-point agenda committed to delivering lifesaving change and comprehensive solutions to people across the country.

“We focused our contributions on the area of Human Services, which carries deep meaning and alignment with our values. When you believe in change, and take action, that’s when progress begins to happen. At Capitolis, we are committed to this responsibility which is why we started Capitolis Connects,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and founder of Capitolis.

“Covenant House is extremely grateful for the support from partners such as Capitolis to help provide essential food, shelter, medical attention, and more to our young people that we believe in,” said Tod Monaghan, SVP, Key Partnerships at Covenant House.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been an extremely difficult time for many people, and it has especially been tough on those who are unable to access food from places like supermarkets and restaurants,” said Sinéad Browne, founder and CEO of Compliments of The House. “We greatly appreciate the support from Capitolis to keep our efforts afloat and help those in need during this time.”

Thanks to the efforts of Capitolis’ clients and employees, tens of thousands of dollars were raised in the first two years of Capitolis Connects. Capitolis will be hosting two events in July to celebrate Capitolis Connects and award each organization with their respective donations.

For more information on Capitolis Connects, visit https://capitolis.com/capitolis-connects/.

Technology company continues to invest in people, expands employee base to support rapid growth and innovation

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets, announced it has grown its employee base by 50% versus the same period last year as the company continues growing and scaling the business to meet customer demands and ongoing opportunities to innovate. The investment in its people reflects Capitolis’ continued momentum after the company recently announced its Series D funding.

As the team grows, Capitolis has welcomed the addition of the following key strategic hires and notable promotions across the New York and Tel Aviv offices:

• Lindsey Baptiste has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer. During her time at Capitolis, she has played a key role in managing the company’s Series C and D investment rounds, LMRKTS acquisition and integration activities, and building the global office space. Lindsey continues to build out the Finance infrastructure of the company including recent additions to her team with Michael Feeney as Controller and Jason Glassman as VP of Strategic Finance.
• Thomas Droumenq joins as Head of Capitolis’ Ionic Product, focused on the management and continued growth of the company’s revolutionary platform that enables financial institutions to finance and structure portfolios of positions in a capital-efficient manner. Thomas spent 23 years at Société Générale where he held roles as Head of Equities & Derivatives and Head of Sales for the Americas region.
• Nancy Henderson joins as Program Structurer, tasked with leading the development of the Capital Marketplace structures. Prior to Capitolis, she held the dual position of Global Head of Fixed Income Asset Management and Branch Manager of the New York Office at FMS Wertmanagement Service where she managed the winddown of a Public Sector, Structured Products and Sovereign portfolio with an initial Notional of 85 billion euros (equivalent). Nancy has also held roles at Hypo Real Estate / DEPFA Bank and HypoVereinsbank.
• Leon Leviner has taken the role of Head of FX Engineering based out of Capitolis’ Tel Aviv office, responsible for the delivery of the FX compression products. Prior to Capitolis, Leon was Chief Technology Officer at Otoma where he built the team and a fintech platform that served banks and insurance companies on five continents; before Otoma, he was CTO at enterprise SaaS platform Reach and previously led the Office of the CTO and served as Head of Innovation at Nasdaq-traded Perion.
• Taylor King has joined as Head of Marketing for Brand, Strategy and Operations, responsible for building and establishing the Capitolis brand and marketing operating foundation. Prior to Capitolis, she held roles in both global and regional marketing at technology software giant SAP, most recently serving as Director of Strategic Initiatives within the company’s Global Demand Center.

The company’s Strategy and Corporate Development team expands with Keerthan Harish joining as Senior Manager of Corporate Development, focused on partnerships, M&A, and strategic initiatives across the business, as well as Eyal Pelleg stepping into the role as Senior Manager of Strategy, tasked with driving our ongoing strategic initiatives with Product and Go-To-Market growth opportunities. Keerthan brings experience from Dataminr, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America’s investment management and wealth management division Merrill Lynch. Eyal has also held roles at McKinsey and Company, Karl Weiss LTD, and served as an officer in the Israeli Navy.

Capitolis’ newly established Project Management Office will be led by Director Maria (MC) Centeio, tasked with bringing process, structure and organization to the business as the company looks to mature its operations and deliver results against its audacious goals. Prior to Capitolis, MC worked on a small team at Bridgewater Associates responsible for taking Ray Dalio’s principles & products focused on systematized management to the external market; she oversaw the technical support and customer operations team.

After closing the August 2021 acquisition of LMRKTS an industry-leading multilateral optimization and compression provider that expanded Capitolis’ optimization suite into the most complete trade compression solutions available in the market, Capitolis placed a number of key talent into new roles to further the strategic growth of its FX business:

• Ben Townson joins the Product team as Vice President, Head of Product Management for Compression.
• Milos Marinkovic has taken on the role of Vice President, Engineering.
• Sofiane Nait-Saidi joins the Capitolis Capital Labs team serving as Vice President, Quantitative Strategy.
• Stephen Fanale steps into the role as Algorithm Team Lead.

“We are excited by the momentum in our business – and the promotion and hiring of key, strategic leaders to meet growing customer demand and innovation at Capitolis,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and Founder of Capitolis. “The team remains focused on our vision to reimagine how capital markets operate. These key appointments keep raising the bar for our exceptional team, bringing the necessary experience to scale our operation to greater heights.”

Capitolis recently raised $110 million in Series D funding, driven by the rapid emergence and market acceptance of its compression and marketplace solutions. The company continues to make people one of its most critical investments to support the rapid growth and scale of the business for its future ahead. To learn more about Capitolis, visit https://capitolis.com/, and to join the team, visit the Careers page at https://capitolis.com/careers/.

Two-thirds of the largest global banks participated in Q1 2022 efforts

Recent progress includes compression innovations in SA-CCR optimization, reduction in exposure to Russian ruble

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets, is riding a strong wave of momentum as two thirds of the largest global banks have participated in balance sheet compression exercises leveraging Capitolis’ technology in the first quarter. These exercises have included optimizations with respect to the rollout of SA-CCR, or the Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk, as well as a reduction in exposure to Russian rubles. As we demonstrate our success, we have welcomed new bank participants in each exercise.

Capitolis has been innovating over the past year and a half to prepare for the rollout of SA-CCR and set financial institutions up for success when it comes to calculating exposure. The regulation requires banks to take a new approach to calculating counterparty credit exposure and will have a significant impact on regulatory capital calculations.

Capitolis’ capital optimization in line with SA-CCR regulation has reduced nearly a trillion dollars − and multiplying − of notional exposure for financial institutions in first quarter alone

SA-CCR has been phased in globally over the last few years to provide a single, standardized method by which financial institutions will be required to measure and ultimately manage and capitalize against. Capitolis anticipated a busy first quarter as SA-CCR went into effect in the United States and United Kingdom in January 2022. In the past three months, Capitolis has successfully reduced nearly a trillion dollars of notional exposure for financial institutions through a series of four multi-lateral optimization exercises.

“We are focused on helping our clients adjust to the regulatory impacts of SA-CCR while maximizing efficiencies in balance sheet optimization,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and Founder of Capitolis. “SA-CCR is something we have been innovating towards for years to better prepare financial institutions for success in multi-lateral optimization in line with the letter and spirit of the rule. Our vision is to reimagine how capital markets operate, and we look forward to continuing this work to enable a healthier, safer capital marketplace aligned with regulations including SA-CCR.”

Capitolis has been offering SA-CCR solutions to clients since mid-2020. Last year, the company performed multiple proof of concept optimizations, providing clients the opportunity to gain a better understanding of their data and internal processes as well as test and validate their own internal SA-CCR calculators. Many of the world’s largest financial institutions took part in Capitolis’ first-quarter 2022 compression runs, with growing participation and regular benefit for the whole capital markets system. This successful progress in optimization innovations sets the stage for an expanding footprint in the SA-CCR landscape in 2022 and beyond.

Capitolis successfully reduced Russian ruble exposure in risk reduction exercises for global banks

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Capitolis was approached by many of the world’s leading financial institutions seeking a targeted solution to manage and reduce exposures to the Russian ruble. Capitolis worked quickly to bring together a large network of global banks and, through its trade compression platform, supported a dozen banking entities to successfully reduce their exposure to Russian rubles and mitigate the impact of settlement failures due to sanctions or other market happenings. These banks needed the right technology and a trusted third party that had established its capabilities and credibility with them to execute. Capitolis’ trifecta of technology, relationships and trust got it done.

Capitolis has now completed two Russian ruble exposure reduction exercises, one of which was executed and managed in just three days following the invasion in Ukraine. In total, billions in redundant, notional exposures were reduced on behalf of the 17 global bank participants. The company will donate half of the revenues from these compression activities to Ukrainian relief and humanitarian efforts.

Capitolis intends to continue offering a Russian ruble compression run as long as it is needed by financial institutions.

For more information on the work Capitolis is doing with SA-CCR, and the recent Russian ruble optimization exercises, please visit www.capitolis.com.

Leading fintech investors Canapi Ventures, 9Yards Capital and SVB Capital co-lead the round.

Jeffrey Goldstein, former U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance and Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury; and George Osborne, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, join Board of Directors, bringing decades of experience at the intersection of financial services, technology, and policy.

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets, today announced it has raised a $110 million Series D at a $1.6 billion valuation, driven by the rapid emergence and market acceptance of its marketplace solutions. The fundraise is co-led by top fintech investors Canapi Ventures, 9Yards Capital, and SVB Capital. Existing investors in Capitolis include a16z, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, S Capital, Spark Capital, Citi, State Street and J.P. Morgan. To date, Capitolis has raised $280 million.

In connection with the funding round, Jeffrey Goldstein, senior advisor at Canapi Ventures, Dan Beldy, partner at Canapi Ventures, and George Osborne, Founding Partner at 9Yards, join the Capitolis Board of Directors. All bring deep financial services and technology expertise and important experience on policy issues related to banking, regulatory reform and financial stability. Previously, Osborne served as an advisor to BlackRock following his role as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer; Goldstein, who sits on the Board of Directors of Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, previously served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank; Beldy is a founding partner at Canapi Ventures and previously served as Managing Director of Steamboat Ventures, the venture arm of The Walt Disney Company.

Canapi Ventures is co-led by Managing Partners Gene Ludwig and Chip Mahan. Ludwig served as Comptroller of the Currency under President Clinton before going on to co-found Promontory Interfinancial Network, an FDIC deposit-routing network serving approximately 2,900 financial institutions, as well as Promontory Financial Group, a regulatory and compliance consulting firm for large financial institutions. Mahan founded and currently serves as CEO and chairman of Live Oak Bancshares; he also co-founded nCino, founded Security First Network Bank, one of the world’s first internet banks, and previously led S1 Corporation.

9Yards was co-founded by George Osborne, Theo Osborne & David Fisher in 2018. Prior to this, George Osborne served as the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer as one of the longest serving finance ministers in the G7. George devised the open banking regime and the FCA ‘sandbox’ among many other regulations that positioned the UK as a global fintech leader. George also sat on the National Security Council and chaired the UK’s Cybersecurity Committee.

Capitolis combines deep capital markets expertise with a Silicon Valley mindset to bring the sharing economy to the forefront of the financial services industry. Capitolis enables banks, investors and institutional clients to expand their reach through a collaboration platform and gateway to connect opportunities with a democratized model of institutional capital, safely removing barriers that would otherwise restrict growth in the market.

“Over the past two years, our vision to reinvent capital markets has gained tremendous momentum as we have tripled our revenue, customer base and team,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and Founder of Capitolis. “We are just scratching the surface on reimagining the capital markets. We are thrilled to have partners like Canapi, 9Yards, and SVB Capital who bring strategic expertise, a true passion for the mission and a powerful network to leverage as we embark on our next chapter of growth.”

Canapi Ventures’ Partner Dan Beldy commented, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Gil, Tom and the entire Capitolis team as they build the next generation of technology infrastructure to help support the safe, efficient growth of the capital markets. At Canapi Ventures we are focused on great leadership teams and category defining innovations that help create a healthier, more robust and more inclusive financial ecosystem. We look forward to working with the Capitolis team as they continue to grow and create a company of great legacy and impact.”

9Yards’ George Osborne commented, “At 9Yards Capital we’re impressed by Capitolis and the innovation it is bringing to the task of making our financial system more secure and our capital markets more efficient.”

Tom Glocer, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Capitolis, said, “The additions of Jeffrey Goldstein, George Osborne and Dan Beldy to the Capitolis Board of Directors will strengthen an already world-class board. In particular, their years of experience in balancing sound regulatory policy and financial stability with innovation in financial markets will help guide Capitolis as we scale our technology and impact in global capital markets.”

“As an existing investor and commercial partner to Capitolis, we have seen firsthand the notable understanding Capitolis has in providing solutions to marketplace participants to achieve their business goals,” said Tilli Bannett, Managing Partner, SVB Capital. “We continue to be impressed by the company’s deep expertise and creativity in making capital markets more efficient, thereby freeing up necessary resources for participants to innovate and deliver financial solutions customers need.”

Tobias Krause, Senior Managing Director, State Street, commented, “We are impressed with Capitolis’ vision of creating a healthier, safer, efficient marketplace for matchmaking, discovery and resource optimization. At State Street, we have benefitted from dynamically reducing, and optimizing our exposures, which has created even more capacity to serve our clients in our growing business.”

“We are now moving to the next phase of growth for Capitolis as we grow exponentially year after year and deliver increased innovation for capital markets. Just two years after launch, the capital marketplace business has already transacted $60B+ notional from over 30 investors. Capitolis has optimized over $13 trillion in trades through its compression & novation engine, serving over 100 financial institutions. Our vision is becoming a reality and we look forward to super-charging our marketplace in the months and years to follow,” concluded Mandelzis.

Capitolis Successfully Helps a Large Network of Global Banks Reduce Russian Ruble Exposure in Multilateral Risk-Reduction Exercises

A dozen entities participated in the multilateral optimization

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining capital markets, today announced it has completed a reduction in exposure to Russian rubles for many of the world’s leading financial institutions. The ruble optimization is a first for Capitolis, which was approached by the banks to design a solution and worked quickly to bring together a large network of banks to participate in this targeted solution. Through its trade compression platform, Capitolis was able to reduce these large exposures and promote financial soundness and stability for the benefit of the whole capital markets system.

In addition to helping clients and the overall market, Capitolis will donate fifty percent of the revenues generated from this optimization exercise to Ukrainian relief and humanitarian efforts.

“We are committed to making the global financial markets work better for our clients and the system as a whole,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and founder of Capitolis. “We worked quickly through our trade compression platform and in great collaboration and partnership with our clients to meaningfully reduce risk, while aiding the Ukrainian people amid this incredible suffering.”

Capitolis intends to continue offering a Russian ruble compression run as long as it is needed.

New service deepens commitment to enhanced capital optimization for regulatory changes

Acadia, the leading industry provider of integrated risk management services for the derivatives community, and Capitolis, the leading SaaS platform that drives financial resource optimization for capital markets, today announced the launch of SA-CCR Optimization. SA-CCR Optimization will bring considerable cost savings to firms subject to the Standard Approach to Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) regulations, focusing on specific FX products such as FX forwards, options, deliverable swaps and cross-currency swaps.

With SA-CCR Optimization, banks and participating financial institutions provide trade data, which Acadia and Capitolis process and generate a series of FX transactions that reduce capital requirements, leaving each client’s net FX risk profile largely unchanged.

“The newest wave of capital regulation is pushing firms to be more mindful of capital consumption across their business.  SA-CCR Optimization is an opportunity for them to reduce consumption levels and deploy their capital in a more efficient manner,” says Chris Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of Acadia. “We are thrilled to provide clients with a dynamic infrastructure solution to compress trades and significantly reduce capital consumption, building upon our data analytics with Capitolis’ market-leading optimization platform.”

The launch of SA-CCR Optimization deepens the partnership between the two leaders in their fields, combining Acadia’s risk analytics and margin data platforms and Capitolis’ proprietary technology, allowing for greater capital optimization for financial institutions.

Gil Mandelzis, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Capitolis added “Our continued integration with Acadia’s trusted platform is an effective solution for our clients to maximize efficiency in SA-CCR balance sheet optimization. Our partnership will also position the industry for success in multilateral optimization of SA-CCR.”

SA-CCR requirements for financial institutions based in some parts of Europe went into effect in June 2021, while regulations in the United States are set to be implemented on January 1, 2022.

The partnership will provide seamless access to Capitolis’ proprietary optimization technology for customers of TradeNeXus, State Street’s award-winning post-trade solution

Capitolis, the fintech company re-imagining how the capital markets operate, today announced it will deliver to customers on State Street’s TradeNeXus platform, access to identify optimization opportunities, eliminate large and unnecessary positions, and free up capital through Capitolis’ optimization, novation, and trade compression solutions. Capitolis will connect to TradeNeXus’ large network of asset managers and executing banks, who electronically match, confirm, and communicate FX and Money Market settlement information.

The announcement comes as financial institutions are increasingly leveraging optimization services to help them comply with new regulations such as Standardized Approach for measuring Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) and Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR), which will impact their operations significantly over the next year. The collaboration has the potential to affect returns on capital and drive new cost efficiencies.

“Now is an opportune time for Capitolis to enter into this collaboration with State Street’s award-winning TradeNeXus platform with forthcoming regulations on capital requirements impacting how financial institutions address their balance sheets,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and founder of Capitolis. “State Street has been a fantastic partner to us for years, and we are excited to accelerate our efforts to bring optimization services to more buy-side institutions. TradeNeXus has unparalleled connectivity within the buy-side community. Together, we are revolutionizing how financial institutions engage with one another.”

“With deep capital markets expertise and an innovative technology platform, Capitolis is the ideal partner to complement the TradeNeXus offering, particularly with the implementation of new regulation in the near term,” said Louisa Kwok, Managing Director and Head of Product for TradeNeXus. “Combining Capitolis’ next-gen solutions with the TradeNeXus platform will be a critical differentiator in helping our clients optimize their workflows and post-trade processes.”

The news of the collaboration follows Capitolis’ recent announcement that it entered into an agreement to acquire LMRKTS. Earlier this year, the company also announced a partnership with leading FX settlement provider CLS to streamline trading and settlement for banks in the $6.6 trillion global currency market.

• Alicia is a three-time Forbes Most Influential CMO in the World recipient.

• Her world-class marketing leadership driving brand transformation at large-scale companies will help accelerate Capitolis’ growth.

• Capitolis continues to deliver hyper-growth following a $90 million series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz earlier this year and recent LMRKTS acquisition.

Capitolis, the fintech company re-imagining how the capital markets operate, today announced the appointment of Alicia Tillman as its Global Chief Marketing Officer. In this role, Alicia will build Capitolis’ worldwide marketing and communications strategy to drive significant brand awareness, demand, and customer growth.

Alicia brings to Capitolis tremendous depth of leadership experience at global giants SAP and American Express. Most recently, Alicia served as Global Chief Marketing Officer at SAP. She led SAP’s global marketing strategy, re-built the organization’s digital marketing infrastructure, re-wrote the brand narrative, delivered many recognized advertising campaigns around the world, and exponentially grew the company’s brand value as one of the top 20 most valuable brands in the world.

Prior to SAP, Alicia served as Global Vice President, Marketing, Public Affairs, and Business Services at American Express, where she overhauled the travel division’s marketing strategy and designed some of their first digital programs, including the travel and payment division’s first social media platforms and marketing automation capabilities.

In addition to her role at Capitolis, Alicia is a board director for Gates Industrial Corporation, a leader in industrial and commercial manufacturing, and Rainfocus, a leading event marketing technology company. She is also a board trustee and chairperson of the education committee for The Hun School of Princeton.

“Alicia has an incredible track record of building high-performing teams in large-scale companies that deliver superior levels of company brand value, awareness, demand, and loyalty,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and founder of Capitolis. “Alicia is the perfect CMO to join our leadership team as we continue to innovate and deliver value to the capital markets to accelerate Capitolis’ growth.”

“Capitolis’ technology enables collaboration between banks and financial institutions at a level of efficiency never seen before, improving overall business economics and investment capacity,” said Alicia. “I’m truly inspired by the size of the company’s ambition and the incredible culture and leadership team Gil has built, and I could not be more excited to build one of the world’s most valuable brands transforming the capital markets.”

Capitolis continues to expand its leadership team with numerous strategic appointments announced over the past year, including Christopher Pennington as Executive Vice President of Sales, Stuart Wexler as General Counsel, Jimmy Reilly as Head of Equity and Total Return Swaps Funding Solutions and Jen Vanderwall as Chief People and Culture Officer.

For more information on Capitolis, please visit www.capitolis.com.

Capitolis, the SaaS-powered network that efficiently links global market participants to new sources of capital in a regulatory-sound manner, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire LMRKTS, an industry-leading multilateral optimization and compression provider.

The proposed acquisition is scheduled to close in the month of August, subject to certain closing conditions. Already a market leader in bilateral compression, structured financing solutions, and novations, this proposed acquisition will allow Capitolis to provide banks, asset managers, and hedge funds with the broadest and most complete trade compression solutions available in the market.

Capitolis, which combines deep markets expertise with a Silicon Valley mindset, has a rapidly growing client roster of more than 100 leading global financial institutions. These clients utilize Capitolis’ innovative technology platform to seek out opportunities to free up capital without taking on additional risk. As part of the proposed transaction, the LMRKTS team will join Capitolis, enhancing the depth of the company’s optimization talent and its ability to bring additional capabilities, including multilateral compression, to the market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“At Capitolis, we are well on our way to meeting our audacious goal of transforming capital markets, guided by the tremendous demand we continue to see from the world’s most significant providers of capital,” said Gil Mandelzis, founder and CEO of Capitolis. “With the addition of the fabulous capabilities Hilary, Sandeep, and the LMRKTS team have built, we will unlock even greater opportunities to expand our product suite and enhance our technology. Together we move one step closer to a transformed, safer, healthier, and more efficient market.”

“I am extremely proud of the company we have built at LMRKTS and very thankful to our clients and the LMRKTS team whose support has made us a leading multilateral provider in foreign exchange,” said Hilary Park, co-founder and CEO of LMRKTS. “When Sandeep Karkera and I started LMRKTS together with Lucio Biase over eight years ago, demand for network-based optimization services was just starting to accelerate. We have since seen firsthand the far-reaching impact that Capitolis has had on the marketplace over the past four years and know that as one team we will deliver truly exceptional results for our clients. Capitolis shares our vision for the future of capital markets, and we’re proud to be joining forces with them.”

“As a client of both Capitolis and LMRKTS, we are delighted to see them team up and look forward to working with the combined entity moving forward. Capitolis is bringing truly innovative solutions to capital markets, and we support the firm’s ambitious vision for the future,” said Itay Tuchman, Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Citi.

This acquisition follows Capitolis’ recent completion of a $90 million Series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, as well as a string of strategic appointments over the past year, including Stuart Wexler as General Counsel, Jimmy Reilly as Head of Equity and Total Return Swaps Funding Solutions, Jen Vanderwall as Chief People and Culture Officer, and James Kibbe as Head of Structured Funding Origination.

Capitolis, the leading SaaS platform that drives financial resource optimization for capital markets, today announced the appointment of Stuart Wexler as its general counsel.

In this role, Wexler will oversee legal matters, corporate governance, and regulatory affairs, and advise senior leadership and the board of directors.

Wexler joins Capitolis with more than 25 years of legal and regulatory experience across financial services, previously serving as Group General Counsel for NEX Group (formerly ICAP), where he was responsible for the management of legal, compliance, risk, and government affairs functions globally. Prior to NEX Group and its predecessor firm, Wexler was a Managing Director and Head of Sales and Trading Compliance at Merrill Lynch, where he managed a department of compliance professionals responsible for providing compliance advisory support to the company’s Americas Sales and Trading businesses. Most recently, he served as a legal consultant for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and was a member of the Treasury Market Practices Group for more than a decade.

“I am thrilled to work with Stu again, having seen him operate at the highest levels of professionalism and integrity over the course of his career. His understanding of the regulatory environment is unparalleled,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and founder of Capitolis. “Stu cares deeply about the health of the financial system and is a perfect partner for us as we reimagine the markets to become healthier, more vibrant, and safer for all participants,” Mandelzis added.

“I am excited to play a key role in growing a company that is truly transforming the industry,” said Wexler. “I joined Capitolis because I believe their vision is revolutionary and will foster a more efficient marketplace that also embraces the spirit and letter of the regulations that have been put in place over the last decade. I look forward to adding to the strong foundation that this talented team has built.”

Wexler’s hire follows Capitolis’ recent completion of a $90 million Series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz as well as a string of strategic appointments over the past year, including Jimmy Reilly as Head of Equity and Total Return Swaps Funding Solutions, Jen Vanderwall as Chief People and Culture Officer, and James Kibbe as Head of Structured Funding Origination.

Capitolis, the leading provider of SaaS and structured financing products that address balance sheet management for financial institutions, today announced that Novations, its foreign exchange novation platform, achieved a record transaction volume of more than $959 billion in notional for FX options novations during the first quarter ended April 30, 2021, more than doubling the volume from a year earlier.

Many financial institutions expanded their positions in the FX market during the periods of volatility brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and they turned to the Capitolis platform to open them up to further opportunities in the market without adding risk. Trading volumes continue to hold at record highs, making the demand for Capitolis’ analytics and tools stronger than ever across both buy-side and sell-side institutions.

“The Capitolis platform is a truly groundbreaking technology that enables the world’s leading prime brokers, executing banks, hedge funds, and money managers to more effectively interact and manage their balance sheets, unlocking the potential to completely transform how firms trade with one another,” said Ben Tobin, Senior Vice President, Global Head of FX at Capitolis. “The growth of Novations over the past year has been tremendous, and we look forward to continually expanding to support our existing and prospective clients with solutions that meet their complex balance sheet needs.”

In addition to achieving record volumes, Capitolis has added 11 clients to the Novations platform since August. These new clients, across both the buy and sell side, complement a growing roster of more than 75 leading global financial institutions currently active on the Novations platform, including NatWest, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Nomura, and Societe Generale. Since its inception nearly three years ago, Capitolis Novations has eliminated positions of more than $4.6 trillion in notional.

To support the growth of Novations, Capitolis has added key features for an improved user experience, including enhanced functionalities that simplify the movement of FX instruments between prime brokers and the larger marketplace, and advanced analytics on the status of all pending and completed novations.

The growth of Capitolis’ Novations platform follows the recent completion of a $90 million Series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Capitolis further bolstered its positioning in the FX space earlier this year, announcing a partnership with leading FX settlement provider CLS to streamline trading and settlement for banks in the $6.6 trillion global currency market.

Capitolis,the leading SaaS platform that drives financial resource optimization for capital markets, today announced an agreement with Refinitiv, one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, to enable access to Capitolis’ next-generation suite of optimization products through Refinitiv’s Trade Notification platform.

The partnership will allow leading financial institutions that leverage Capitolis’ revolutionary, proprietary technology platform to streamline their processing of FX instruments including options, swaps, forwards, and Non-Deliverable Forwards (NDFs) through a seamless connection to Refinitiv’s infrastructure for post-trade services, enabling market participants to collaborate to achieve new operational, cost, speed, and scale efficiencies.

Capitolis enables firms to optimize their balance sheet exposures through collaborative technology by eliminating unnecessary positions and finding the most suitable party to hold the remaining positions. To date, Capitolis has eliminated more than $9 trillion in overall positions for more than 75 financial institutions, including many of the world’s largest banks, as well as leading hedge funds and asset managers.

Capitolis chose Refinitiv’s Trade Notification platform given its position as the leading network connecting participants in the FX market including trading venues, brokers, liquidity providers, ECNs, and banks with guaranteed delivery. Refinitiv’s Trade Notification platform offers an unparalleled geographic reach and a client-centric model geared towards fast integration.

“We look forward to continuing our relationship with the team at Refinitiv through this partnership that will deliver greater efficiency and more seamless connectivity for our clients,” said Tom Glocer, Executive Chairman and co-founder of Capitolis, as well as former CEO of Thomson Reuters.  “As the adoption of our proprietary technology platform expands across the industry, the need for continued innovation and collaboration is crucial. I have deep roots in and affection for both Capitolis and Refinitiv, and I believe this partnership will benefit both companies and our common clients, in particular.”

“This partnership expands the functionality of Refinitiv’s trade reporting tools, enabling greater transparency and helping to foster a smarter marketplace for all participants,” said Dean Berry, Group Head of Trading and Banking Solutions for Refinitiv. “At Refinitiv, we are always open to collaboration and pleased to welcome new publishers on our network such as Capitolis, whose collaborative platform is changing the ways in which financial institutions optimize their balance sheet exposure. Our focus is to serve our community on STP and increasingly in other initiatives such as this one, which add value to our clients.”

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with Capitolis and begin leveraging this product enhancement,” said Tobias Krause, Head of Global Markets Resource Management for State Street. “The new trade notification and transaction reporting tools will increase the efficiency of our optimization exercises, which directly increases State Street’s capacity to serve our clients.”

The announcement follows a year of record growth for Capitolis, including the recent announcements of a $90 million Series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, a partnership with AcadiaSoft, combining their risk analytics and repository of industrywide margin data with Capitolis’ proprietary technology platform, and a collaboration with CLS to streamline trading and settlement for banks in the $6.6 trillion global currency market.