Deals: KPMG acquires Australian FinTech company Markets IT
KPMG Australia
Accounting and consulting giant KPMG has acquired Markets IT for an undisclosed sum. The purchase of the Australian FinTech player will improve KPMG’s expertise in the area of Murex software, as the firm seeks to provide financial institutions with a range of solutions in the area of regulatory compliance, cost-cutting and meeting competitive pressures.
Markets IT is a leading Australian technology consultancy specialising in financial services. The Melbourne-based firm implements integrated trading, risk management, regulatory reform, trader surveillance, processing and post-trade solutions for both buy and sell-side organisations including banks, clearing brokers, central banks, investment managers and hedge funds. In 2013 Markets IT became Australia’s first System Integration Partner for Murex, a global provider of cross-asset trading, risk management and processing technology.
KPMG Australia CEO Gary Wingrove commented: “Financial services organisations face an unprecedented landscape of rapid change –continual regulatory changes, heightened competition, innovation threats and opportunities, and technology changes. There has never been a greater need in the market for integrated, business-centric technology services for these clients. And effective implementation will require deep subject matter expertise in both business and technology.”
“Markets IT is a very timely and strategic acquisition that also supports our global capital markets strategy, and our growing Murex-related services here in Australia as well as in Asia Pacific, Europe and South Africa. I am delighted to welcome the team to KPMG today,” he said.
Capital markets have been grappling with regulation challenges for much of the past five years, but the intensity has increased as implementation deadlines of associated rules, controls and technology arrive. Significant cost cutting pressures provide further complexity. Globally, system consolidation and replacement of legacy technology remains the biggest driver of anticipated technology spending increases. KPMG research shows that total capital markets technology spending globally is forecast to exceed US$100 billion by 2018, with forecast spend allocated to risk management-related technology rising to over 18% of this by 2018.
Founder of Markets IT, Tim Robinson, joins KPMG Australia today as a partner. Co-founder Craig Snell and fellow Director John Rusjan also join KPMG as directors together with their team of specialists in Melbourne and Sydney. Merging with KPMG’s existing Capital Markets Technology team, this creates a combined team of around 40 experts nationally, supported by the group’s existing regional and global capability.
Commercial terms were not disclosed.
