Sucden Financial is launching direct market access to a wide range of cash equity and derivatives exchanges and platforms to bring multi-asset trading facilities to its clients.

The new system, branded Storm, uses Sungard’s GL technology and enables Sucden Financial’s clients to directly trade equities, options, commodity and financial futures on global markets.

Sucden Financial, a subsidiary of Sucres et Denrées, has in recent years expanded as a broker to institutions, trading groups, hedge funds and high net worth retail clients.

Sungard’s GL technology provides access to cash and futures markets as well as sophisticated functionality and low latency quote data and order routing.

Storm will access directly into NYSE Liffe, Eurex, ICE Europe and US, Nymex, Comex, CME, CBOT and the LME immediately, with the London Stock Exchange and NYSE following shortly.

It will operate alongside Sucden Financial’s existing in-house developed system Star.

Michael Overlander (pictured), chief executive officer of Sucden Financial, says: “This is a substantial development for Sucden Financial in serving hedge fund clients. Our historical focus on soft commodities and metals remains but hedge funds increasingly require access to other asset classes such as energy, fixed income, money markets and cash equities. Storm will provide our hedge fund clients with a fast, scalable single access point to all important global markets, offer improved functionality and simultaneously reduce our unit processing costs.”