Eurex | Eurex Clearing
They usually act backstage, but they are on the spot when problems occur: the operations teams from Eurex and Eurex Clearing.
The operations teams ensure a smooth processing of trading and clearing. Since July last year, Jonas Ullmann has been responsible for the further development of trading functionalities and day-to-day trading operations at Eurex as Chief Operating Officer (COO). At the same time, Jens Janka took over the position of COO at Eurex Clearing.
To ensure that the operations teams work seamlessly, the key to success lies in the close cooperation of the teams from trading and clearing. “You can compare this to a football team,” Jens Janka says. “Everyone has a dedicated role, but at the same time they have to understand the tasks of the other team members and maintain a general overview of the pitch itself – because no one can win the game alone, but only as a team.” Jonas Ullmann agrees with this: “Our work is never about self-interests. Jens and I are there so that others can do their jobs well. For this, teamwork has to be the top priority.”
Invisible support
Ideally, one can hardly notice that the operations teams on the trading and clearing sides are active. However, this also means that their significance becomes all the more visible in case of an incident, for example a trading system failure. The important role of operations for Eurex as well as Eurex Clearing also became evident with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the last year, when trading was maintained despite extreme volatility.
For the second half of this year as well as the next year, the operations teams have several projects in the pipeline. The trading side, for example, is busy with the continuation of the next generation of exchange-traded derivatives. Technological developments are another important topic, as Jonas Ullmann states: “There are disruptive forces coming our way, such as the increasing use of artificial intelligence. We have to stay on top of things and see if we can find a concrete use case for new technological developments, and to what extent we have to adapt the role of operations as a whole.”
Eurex Clearing will be looking at migrating the security clearing system to a new infrastructure – an important project that will have a major impact on all involved participants. Apart from that, Jens Janka also names the topic of digital transformation and its impact on everyday work. “Permanent lifelong learning of our colleagues will accelerate. It is up to them to shape the cooperation especially between business and IT in this changing world. We will be the driving force here.”
