Options Names Ken Barnes as New Senior VP of Corporate Development

NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Options, provider of the Options PIPE® Private Financial Cloud services platform for the exchange, banking, trading and investment communities, today announced that industry veteran Ken Barnes has been appointed as the firm's Senior Vice President of Corporate Development.

In his new role, Mr. Barnes will be responsible for leading corporate and product strategy for the Options PIPE® Private Financial Cloud, as well as overseeing the firm's business expansion across the broker dealer and investment banking communities. Option's private cloud services include PIPE Velocity, an ultra-low latency market data, execution connectivity and application management service; Momentum, an on-demand application management service for the front-, middle- and back-office; and Core, a turnkey business technology platform.

Prior to joining Options, Mr. Barnes served as Senior Vice President in the Technologies division of NYSE Euronext, where he managed an $80 million business encompassing transactions, market data and infrastructure as a service. Mr. Barnes previous managed SFTI, launched the Mahwah colo facility in 2010, and has also held positions in business line management, business development and product marketing at firms including Wombat Financial Software, Reuters, and Salomon Brothers.

"Ken brings an incredible level of expertise and industry experience to our team, which will be pivotal as we continue to expand our business in the major financial markets," said Nigel Kneafsey, CEO of Options. "With the amount of regulatory oversight that is being implemented across the industry, combined with rapidly evolving changes that are taking place within the area of financial outsourcing, it is imperative that we have the best experience in the sector to help our customers scale with confidence."