DataArt, a software consultancy that builds custom solutions for select industries, announced completion of a mission-critical development effort and the launch of the first sell-side negotiation platform for Squawker.
The Squawker negotiation platform addresses the problem of matching trades that are difficult to execute on the order books or in dark pools by acting as the middle party in a community of vetted buyers and sellers. DataArt engineers worked with Squawker to create an electronic trading venue that is free from algorithms and high-frequency trading, enabling the sell-side community to negotiate anonymously and directly.
Squawker engaged DataArt as a trusted developer partner to design the platform around an intuitive mix of technologies that ensure ease of use and comprehensiveness for the sell-side community. DataArt engineers and Squawker developed the neutral negotiation venue to encourage personal interactions that are toxic-free, building the platform with a high-performance back-end layer based on Java enterprise stack and visually intuitive and usable client GUI, implemented using Microsoft WPF technology.
The Squawker negotiation platform provides end-to-end FIX workflows, compliance monitoring and auditing of all dealings. Through social networking technology, the platform provides a person-to-person forum for the structured negotiation of trades. Since its launch, Squawker has signed more than 70 sell-side firms, comprised of tier one investment banks, regional tier-ones, traditional agency brokers, sell-side transition managers and private banks across Europe.
"DataArt impressed us with their knowledge of the capital markets and a solid track record in the industry," said Chris Gregory, CEO and co-founder of Squawker. "The team worked with us from the start, and together we were able to deliver the platform much faster and at a much lower total cost than would be otherwise possible."
"Completion of a project of such magnitude is an important milestone for DataArt's Financial Technology Practice, as it establishes our track record on the sell-side," said Dmitry Stillermann, Vice President of Capital Markets at DataArt. "With ten years and 200 projects for the investment management (buy-side) community, we have now ramped up our expertise for sell-side trading, collaboration and risk management."