Tibra Capital Pty Limited
FormerlyFTD Trading Pty Limited
TypePrivate company
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedJanuary 2006 (2006-01)
Founders
  • Dinesh Bhandari
  • Tim Berry
  • Kinsey Cotton
  • Christian King
  • Clint Maddock
  • Glenn Williamson
HeadquartersAustinmer, New South Wales, Australia
Key people
Christopher Udy (CEO)
ProductsProprietary trading
Algorithmic trading
High-frequency trading
Websitewww.tibra.com

Tibra Capital (Tibra) is an Australia proprietary trading firm headquartered in Austinmer, New South Wales. It has additional offices in Sydney and London.

Background

Tibra was founded in January 2006 near Sydney by Dinesh Bhandari, a former trader at Optiver as well as six other employees who had also came from the same firm. Bhandari put in $2 million to start the new venture while the others contributed a total of $4 million. Originally the firm was called FTD allegedly meaning "Fuck the Dutch" in reference to the employees split with Optiver.[1][2][3][4][5]

The firm quickly turned a profit with its first year making $14 million and its second year making $57 million.[1]

In 2011, co-founders Bhandari, Glenn Williamson and Clint Maddock all stepped away from day-to-day involvement with the firm to pursue personal interests.[2][5]

Although the firm expanded quickly at the beginning, its business slowed for several years and the firm recorded losses. As a result, it streamlined the business and closed several overseas offices as well as cut staff numbers. Previously Tibra also had offices in Amsterdam, Dubai, Chicago, Hong Kong and Singapore.[5]

Tibra uses a mix of statistical and fundamental analysis to drive its investment strategies in trading, arbitrage and market making.[5]

Optiver

Tibra's co-founders were previously employees of Optiver. In June 2007, Optiver started proceeds against Tibra. In August 2009, Optiver launched a legal lawsuit Tibra and its co-founders. It alleged they had used confidential information for Tibra's computer trading programs. As a result, it was suing for copyright infringement and damage caused by using its software. It also was claiming a proportion of profits made by Tibra. The Australian stated Optiver launched the lawsuit after private investigators tracked emails sent by the co-founders on the day they left the firm. One claim states how, in 2004, Optiver employees wrote programming code to improve its trading speed from 80 milliseconds to between 0.5 and 1.5 milliseconds. In 2005, Optiver 'terminated' Bhandari's employment. By mid 2006, several Optiver employees quit to Bhandari at Tibra. Optiver head, Robert Keldoulis was suspicious on how fast Tibra became a successful competitor.[1][2][3][4][6]

A decisive piece of evidence was discovered when an encrypted email involving a conversation between Tibra co-founders was cracked. It had a timeline that started on 17 July 2006, seven weeks before 4 September the date that Tibra was to commence trading. Under 28 August, it was written that all emails, records etc. were to be deleted or destroyed. In January 2014, Tibra settled with Optiver by agreeing to pay more than $10 million to drop the case and that there would be no admission of fault. Williamson was the sole co-founder who refused to sign a settlement agreement with Optiver stating even though the settlement is officially without admission of fault, accepting it is still a sign of guilt.[3][4][5][7]

KCG Holdings

In November 2012, Tibra hired two former executives from GETCO Europe with one being considered a "game-changing" hire. In June 2013, GETCO and Knight Capital Group merged to form KCG Holdings. KCG Holdings then launched a lawsuit against Tiba alleging "breach of certain intellectual property and confidentiality rights by an employee". In June 2015, Tibra and KCG Holdings agreed to an out-of-court settlement.[8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Meet the high-tech traders making millions". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Evans, Michael (6 February 2011). "Cash windfall for Tibra trio as they take time out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Evans, Michael (4 July 2012). "Secret email lifts lid on rich-lister plans, court told". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Whitbourn, Michaela (10 February 2014). "Young Rich List traders settle seven-year fight with former employer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Stensholt, John (6 December 2016). "Australian 'flash boys' Tibra Capital record bumper profit". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Optiver sues rival over software theft - report". Finextra Research. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Bailey, Michael (4 February 2014). "Tibra co-founder rejects Optiver settlement". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Cave, Tim (9 November 2012). "Former Getco duo emerge at rival HFT". Financial News.
  9. ↑ Cave, Tim (30 June 2015). "HFT firm Tibra settles with KCG over alleged code theft". Financial News.
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