Based in New York, Ramamurthy will join next month, taking on a unit employing 2700 people that reported revenues of $3.5 billion last year.

Serving customers in the foreign exchange, fixed income, equities, commodities and energy markets, the new man is charged with overseeing the ongoing development of Thomson Reuters Eikon, the company's financial desktop and mobile platform, and increasing its participation in electronic trading marketplaces.

At IBM Ramamurthy was general manager for Big Blue's global banking and financial markets business. Previously he was a lead partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers' financial services strategic consulting practice.

Thomson Reuters has also poached Bill Harts from Bessemer Venture Partners to act as head of strategy for sales and trading, reporting to Ramamurthy. Described as an algorithmic trading "pioneer", Harts has had spells at Citi and Nasdaq.

Says Ramamurthy: "I look forward to working with Bill and the rest of the team to capture the opportunities that such an innovative platform business offers. As always, the heart of our proposition will be the powerful combination of content, transaction and collaboration services to drive real growth for our customers."