TNS and NRI deal opens up Hong Kong markets to Japanese retail securities firms

The new agreement allows firms connected to NRI's Market Bridge platform to use TNS' Secure Trading Extranet to access the buoyant Hong Kong markets. By connecting with local brokers who can act on their behalf, Japanese firms do not need to acquire a local licence to trade in Hong Kong, making it easier and more cost-effective to trade in this important overseas market.

TNS' Secure Trading Extranet offers mission-critical low latency connectivity, including the ability to perform FIX transactions. It brings together one of the world's largest financial communities of interest, spanning four continents.

Financial institutions are increasingly looking to connect with Asia's growing markets outside of Japan and with the help of TNS, NRI can extend its Market Bridge community into Hong Kong. This puts NRI in a strong position to harness further growth opportunities within other countries and easily meet the needs of its clients as it evolves.

NRI's Market Bridge technology is a straight-through-processing solution for foreign equities, providing members with fully automated, real time transaction capabilities. This new agreement will also allow financial market participants already part of TNS' ecosystem to connect with on-net Market Bridge users in as little as three working days.

Alan Schwartz, President of TNS' Financial Services Division, said: "Asia is an ever developing and evolving market and we are pleased to be working alongside NRI to help it deliver this key service to its customers, while supporting its international growth objectives.

"We are also excited about the many new opportunities this creates for TNS' connected community. We are committed to further extending our global network coverage and we expect to receive interest from our participants now that we can access the Japanese retail securities market."