High-frequency traders in Europe just lost one of their top advocates and spokesman.
According to the Financial Times, Remco Lenterman, the outspoken chairman of one of Europe’s most influential lobby groups for proprietary traders, the Futures Industry Association’s European Principal Traders Association, is stepping down from the role he has held since the body’s formation in 2011.
Lenterman’s decision to step down comes after his departure from HFT firm IMC Financial Markets, where he was a managing director.
Lenterman, an outspoken advocate of HFT at industry conferences, is known for his lengthy rebuttals of HFT’s portrayal in the media on Twitter. Although a Dutch national, his decision to leave was driven by a desire to move back to London from Amsterdam.
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Johannah Ladd, secretary general of FIA Epta, wrote in a statement on the group’s website that Lenterman had “worked tirelessly” in the role.
FIA Epta has become a singuilar public voice for the beleaguered HFT industry as it has come under intense scrutiny both in Europe and in the U.S.
In the U.S., the equivalent advocacy group would be the Modern Markets Initiative, which is located in New York City. It is helmed by industry veteran Bill Harts.
