The new office, located in the very heart of Sydney's central business district, comes as a direct result of recent, significant business successes for Fidessa in Australia, and will house a combination of current Fidessa employees and new hires. In parallel, Fidessa is also opening new data centre facilities in Australia which will allow it to provide its full range of low-latency connectivity, Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions and other managed and hosted services locally.

Heading up Fidessa's Australian business will be Country Manager, Andrew Metcalfe. Metcalfe's background in growing and managing Fidessa's Asia Pacific hosted services division from Hong Kong will be a key factor in expanding the local Australian business, as well as delivering the excellent client service and support that Fidessa is known for globally.

Also joining the Sydney-based operation is James Hardcastle, from Fidessa's Tokyo office, who will lead sales activities for Australia. Previously Head of International Sales for Japan, Hardcastle brings a wealth of client management and new business sales skills, and will be focused on growing the local client base.

Commenting on the business expansion, Jean-Pierre Baron, Managing Director of Fidessa's business across the Asia Pacific region, said: "The Australian market is in a state of flux which has been primarily brought about by recent changes to the local regulatory framework and the imminent launch of alternative trading venue, Chi-X Australia. Fidessa's solutions are recognised for their multi-market capabilities worldwide, but key to our strategy has been to identify and understand the specific Australian challenges. The combination of our global experience of trading in fragmented markets and our knowledge of the particular nuances in Australia means Fidessa is well positioned to become the partner of choice to guide market participants through the new liquidity landscape."

This news follows a period of significant investment in the region by Fidessa. Earlier this year it signed a deal with ASX to provide the technology infrastructure for ASX Best, a workstation that supports multi-market equities trading. Fidessa is also producing a series of white papers on the new trading landscape in Australia. The second of these, 'Stuck in the Middle with you?', which looks at the future for brokers in Australia's new trading landscape, was published last week.

"The Sydney office opening is testament to Fidessa's commitment to the Australian marketplace, and these new appointments build on the significant work we have been doing in Australia for some time, as well as augmenting the team of 10 people who are already working on secondment on our Australian activities", continued Baron. "This will allow us to ensure that we continue to service clients at the high level they have rightfully come to expect. Australia is a very important country for us within our overall Asia Pacific strategy and we look forward to further growth there."

The new office is located at Grosvenor Place, 225 George Street in Sydney.