Optiver’s CFO to quit
Shortly after releasing very poor results, Optiver’s chief financial officer decided to throw in the towel and leave the firm. He has been employed by Optiver for just two years, and the secretive company released a small press release on his departure. Fact is Edwin van de Ven (1964) wanted to work somewhere else. According to Optiver. Sure.
Partners are leaving Optiver as well, and the prime suspects in the ongoing CFTC case in hammering the oil price two years ago don’t appear to be really working. Hence, Bastiaan van Kempen, Christopher Dowson and Randal Meijer could be excellent candidates for the role as CFO. As earlier noted in the comments, spokesman and legal counsel Steven Schwab has jumped ship and joined arch rival Tibra Trading. One may slightly remember another trading firm which often fired key board members.
Unfortunately the legal battles seem to take ages. No news to report yet on the CFTC or F1 case.
Who needs a CFO anyway….
Hi Joe Doe,
Shut the stupid comments.
If you really don’t know why companies need a CFO, I can explain you. Let me know.
It’s John, not Joe… Not even Joe Dohn.
But now that you’re here, please elaborate on the reason(s) for expellation, in order to give you a possibility for an adversarial process. I am sure you feel the need to do so.
Regards,
John
expellation? is that like a mediaeval process of expelling someone from your fiefdom?
Sorry John for misspelling you name.
I wasn’t expelled, and left on own initiative, and they are no legal consequences to the story.
Your next question I presume….why did he leave?
Consider me one of the rats that leave the sinking ship. Just like the Roman Empire a combination of decadence of leadership and monetary trouble will also end the once mighty derivatives powerhouse.
Cheers, Edwin
what happened to Eclipse btw?
VDM didn’t need a CFO. see what it got them: now there are lots of spinoffs with former VDM-employees. highly successful strategy.
Well Edwin, that’s a lot of information, even more than I had expected and hoped for. Also you talk about:’the sinking ship (Optiver)’ and if someone can know about this, than it’s the ex-CFO, isn’t it?
However, I can not get around it that, in your words I do sense a lot of frustration and resentment against your former employer, which might significantly reduce the integrity of your remarks.
Note 1: It is also rather odd that a Global CFO can just work in the same role for a direct Global competitor but in a different country, thereby supposedly by-passing the non-compete. Nice food for lawyers.
Note 2: You can probably tell more about the rumours about axing a significant number of people at Tibra Australia.
As if the CFO would be wasting his time on this blog..
As a matter of fact, I am. I just want the trading community to know my side of the story before the wildest stories start going around.
ur not a part of the trading community .. u just happen to have worked in a trading company .. get over it and go join a finance and accounting community ..
Is bastiaan even with Optiver? I thought he left after being removed as MD?
specially for Optiver:;-)
Give me a song or rhythm
Making ’em sweat that’s what I’m giving ’em
Now they know when you talk about the Hammer
U can’t touch this (oh-oh oh oh-oh-oh) (x2)
Break it down
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh) (x4)
Stop Hammer time
U can’t touch this
Look man u can’t touch this
You’ll probably get hyped boy
‘Cause you know you can’t u can’t touch this
Ring the bell school’s back in break it down
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) (x4)
Stop Hammer time
(Oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh) (x2)
Every time you see me that Hammer’s just so hype
I’m dope on the floor and I’m magic on the mic
Now why would I ever stop doing this
With others makin’ records that just don’t hit
I toured around the world from London to the BAY
It’s Hammer go Hammer
mc hammer yo hammer and the rest can go and play
Hey punks, read this. Most of you were still at school when these guys cashed in…..http://olesiafx.com/economics/day-200802-16.html
quite an old story dude…
Chicago Research and Trading (CRT) was a futures and options trading firm that participated in agricultural commodity trades and metals market-making activities. North Carolina-based NationsBank eventually bought CRT for $225 million.[1]CRT, founded in 1977, had 750 employees around the world at the time of the sale and $250 million in capital. It will continue to operate as a separate firm and the acquisition won’t affect employment.[2]
Information should not have the writer’s opinion in it. Be careful with the misleading words. You may argue about free speech, but please do not delete posts then.
why do you care ‘ex-optiver’?
be glad that you earned your money during the easy-days, and continue counting your money and enjoying the relaxing life.
Everyone at Optiver didn’t like him anyway. He just found new ways to spend money and seem important while giving work to his old friends at Deloitte for consultancy on ‘enterprise risk management’.
Sounds like quitting before getting fired out the door.
He was weighted and found out too light. Happens…
I thought Randal Meijer was the CEO nowadays. Why would he become CFO?
thats how things are done in optiver .. trading business head/partner went back to being a normal trader .. he took over this high potential trading spot that was massively under-performing under a youngish trader .. within weeks that spot was back on target .. its a flat place and people are encouraged to contribute to organization in whatever way and not worry abt titles or personal glories themselves .. despite less than exciting time last 2 years, i still feel confident abt their future because of this organizational culture ..
I care because it’s not fair to the company. Just want to make a point that people leave a company for a lot of different reasons than just hatred or “selling at the high”. Yes, I left after a good year, but not as you said “counting your money and enjoying the relaxing life”. I remember and appreciate that my ex-employer gave me the opportunity to make my initial capital for my new interest.
agreer, people leave for lot of reasons .. and ‘selling at high’ is not the right way to describe it .. better description would be selling after high pay-off and not wanting to wait for another 4-5 years before another big pay-off occurs .. trading is rather stressful and active market making/trading can be sustained for years on by only very few .. even though lot others can be excellent for good few years, but its long term sustainability of that performance is quite rarely possible ..
I think there is no need for the big fuss about Edwin`s departure. His role became a lot less important at Optiver what he was originally singed up for…that`s all.
alphabay = dead
wow egbert turned out to be rather dumb and rather smart at the same time .. he cudnt get the company going anywhere .. so hacked the losses quickly, got rid of staff and neatly kept the 2.5mil they got stealing from VDM shareholders .. though i think that this is not the end of the story .. they can still survive on dividend stripping ?
Did Alphabay really lock in that 2.5mio? Some insider told me that they messed up the thing and somehow lost nearly all of it, which sounds impossible to me btw.
they were not running any big position .. u cant loose 2.5mil like that .. egbert is bullshitting so that people dont think he got away stealing 2.5 mil from VDM shareholders.. good old diversion so that the money can now neatly be taken out of alphabay’s clearing bank .. quite a neat plan i say ..
Is non-compete clause applicable on Edwin ?
u cud never really know .. u’ll have to read fine print and see the cross border legal validity .. so unless u are his personal advisor, u cudn’t really know ..
Danny (Dinesh) Bhandari – the guy who started Tibra has resigned from the company
with the courts to rule on the Optiver vs Tibra case in October, has he left at a crutial point, or is he getting out knowing whats about to hit tibra next month.
The Optiver vs CFTC case is likely to be settled next month. An Optiver vs Tibra directions hearing is next month. An actual hearing in the Optiver vs Tibra case would be a long, long, long way away.
Facts are awesome.
(Cont)
Just to put things into perspective, the Optiver vs CFTC case was filed in July 2008 and should be resolved by year end. It is a relatively open and shut case and has taken almost two and a half years. Unfortunately Optiver will most likely receive a hefty fine.
Optiver vs Tibra was filed mid 2009 and looks like a much more complicated case. You clearly have no idea of how the legal system works, nor have you been following the case closely. Zero chance of a result in 2010, and may not get a result in 2011 either. These kinds of cases tend to drag out for various reasons.
what is the story with danny bhandari?
What I know is that another Tibra partner is not a director anymore.
I’m wondering wether it’s a choice or if he was forced?
I really don’t think Danny would leave the company he’s created…
Why would he do that?
Early retirement perhaps? Pretty sure Tibra is big enough to handle it anyway
board elections a few months ago and he got voted off, then pushed out of the CEO role – the writing was on the wall
why was he voted off .. any reliable indications ?
reminds me of Apple board getting rid of Jobs and then pretty much loosing direction .. they ended up getting him back years later ..and luckily for them the lost time wasnt a big deal as we can now see ..
Hurds at HP is the most recent victim of clueless board driving the company to ground ..
stupid lawyers/accountants/HR board members not knowing how trading company is run …
Voted off because he stepped on too many toes and pissed everyone off.
Tibra is having the same problems as every company that has experienced exponential growth since it started. With growth comes more overhead and as trading activity is not where it used to be, the bonus pool is dried up but with more mouths to feed.
That combined with rank amateurs who do not know how to run a trading company has lead to internal conflicts on the direction of the company.
Extrapolation rules! Especially when you base your hiring strategy on it.
oh well, he must have taken 40-50mil out of the venture by now, so well gud luck to the board and the company ..
Now he should steal Tibra’s code and start a new company.
that was an original thought u had .. is that the first one for the day ?
On the linkedin profile, it still reads ‘CEO’.
Let’s assume he stepped down as CEO, he still is the biggest shareholder, what is he doing now?
And who’s the new “boss”?
he’s been kicked out of CEO role of the company he helped found and succeed .. what do u expect him to do following that, go update his linkedin profile ?!
he’s the biggest shareholder, so he’s going to use the voting rights to maximize company’s value .. or maybe liquidate his position .. it be slightly difficult at this point of time ..
He has not been CEO for over a year. I think his resignation is a HUGE blow for Tibra. He may be the biggest shareholder but that means jack all if the other sharehodlers do not agree with him.
Im sorry but I cannot accept a complaint about lack of originality from Tibra.
it be sad if tibra goes in a decline .. they influenced the industry in a rather positive way ..
Guys stop this total BS .Tibra hasn’t built anything . No ideas , no software , no company .They stole software and that is it .
Danny was the only thing holding Tibra together. They is fokd.
Strange that such an arrogant character was still able to ‘hold a company together’. I’d think that people would get annoyed pretty soon with him.
How’s Tibra doing financially btw?
Re: Guys stop this total BS .Tibra hasn’t built anything . No ideas , no software , no company .They stole software and that is it
They sorted out the intra industry mobility .. its rather limiting that after a stint in Optiver u cant go do that somewhere else.. competition for talent/trades is what they got .. and it forever deserves respect for that ..
Who gives a shit about a non compete? If the general counsel “schwab” can jump ship, why can’t anyone else? The doors are now, and have been, wide open for anyone to leave Optiver.
funny that nobody of the pro-tibra people here is denying the theft.
It is like praising a burglar for the way he opened a window. Doesn’t seem like a nice place to work. Why wouldn’t a steeling/low moral CEO rip you off or is this changed after his resignation?
if they did steal the code, Optiver should be able to win the case and win compensation .. thats what a legal system is meant to do .. otherwise tough luck ..
Maybe the “pro-tibra” people are letting the legal system handle the matter in due course rather than responding to all you gossip queens?
>Tibra is having the same problems as every company that has experienced >exponential growth since it started. With growth comes more overhead and as trading >activity is not where it used to be, the bonus pool is dried up but with more mouths to >feed.
>That combined with rank amateurs who do not know how to run a trading company >has lead to internal conflicts on the direction of the company.
They are all the same
regarding Crucell: heard that All Options made a couple of 100k’s
but who are the other winners/losers with a position in this one?
wat a fuckin amateur .. the shares spiked, people are normally long .. so unless somebody was shorting crucell or short gamma, nobody might have lost money!
People are not normally long…MM usually try to stay “flat”.
But you can still be flat gamma before market opens and lose money on a takeoverby being short some upside calls for example(ask trader Jack about his VW calls some time ago…)
MM are the ones at risk because they make markets on OTM options that can be deadly.
At the moment, most market participants are long premium. Optiver CFO got sacked because he argued for a short position.
Haha. The level of nonsense on this website is noteworthy. Do you really believe the CFO would, apart from risk limits, interfere with trading behavior?
“Haha. The level of nonsense on this website is noteworthy. Do you really believe the CFO would, apart from risk limits, interfere with trading behavior?”
– IF the CFO was your trader being investigated for running the hammer tool, then yes.
Edwin was running the hammer tool ?!
Hilarious, a CFO that supposedly ran the Hammer-tool. No frikkin way that this was allowed at Optiver. Some people should stop distributing this kind of BS.
The CFO was hired one year after the entire hammer incident happened.
of course some of the stuff written here is bs, big fucking deal !
“Haha. The level of nonsense on this website is noteworthy. Do you really believe the CFO would, apart from risk limits, interfere with trading behavior?”
– IF the CFO was your trader being investigated for running the hammer tool, then yes.
I think he was chaffing. Let’s take a look at the events that have transpired at Optiver over the past few years:
1). Optiver is investigated by the CFTC for market manipulation
2). Bastiaan Van Kempen is demoted in Chicago, then decides to quit.
3). Dowson now works on special projects off of company property and is still on the payroll.
4). Schwab gets fired for pornography on his company issued laptop.
5). Randall Meijer is promoted after being investigated by the CFTC.
6). Profits are tanking and partners are leaving in hoards.
Sounds like an awesome place to work.
Tibra is the best place to work for
> Tibra is the best place to work for
LOL….
OPtiver’s traders are a little bunch of idiots. Some people deserve a good punch in the face.
If you were on the floor you’d get a couple. And then some in the parking lot.
But they hide behind their screens. Pussies.
“But they hide behind their screens. Pussies.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LOL!
What’s Kippie doing nowadays?