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July 13, 2023 - New York-based independent prime broker Clear Street has revealed its plans to venture into the futures clearing market by acquiring React Consulting Services and its proprietary, cloud-native futures clearing platform, BASIS.
This strategic acquisition is expected to boost Clear Street's prime brokerage platform, which currently handles over 2.5% of the gross notional U.S. equities volume. The BASIS platform will be incorporated into Clear Street's existing cloud-native clearing, settlement, execution, and custody platform, paving the way for a more comprehensive offering for its clients.
Sachin Kumar, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Clear Street, remarked on the acquisition, saying, "Integrating BASIS will give our customers seamless access to futures alongside our equity, options, and fixed income offering in one platform. This acquisition accelerates our product development timeline and brings us closer to a single platform for every asset class, in every country, and in any currency."
As part of this acquisition, Clear Street will be adding 10 new employees from React to its team, including co-founders Pat Mayo and Dave Evans. Both will join Clear Street as Managing Directors of Clear Street Technology, bringing with them decades of experience in futures.
Mayo expressed his enthusiasm for the acquisition, saying, "The React team shares Clear Street’s vision for a unified prime brokerage platform and believes deeply in the Company’s mission to build modern financial infrastructure for today’s institutions."
Once the BASIS platform is integrated, Clear Street will offer clients an all-encompassing solution to clear, custody, and finance U.S. equities, options, fixed income, and futures. The company plans to gradually integrate BASIS, with plans to connect the platform to futures exchanges starting in early 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
Clear Street recently wrapped up the second tranche of its $435 million Series B capital raise, which valued the company at $2.0 billion. The move into futures and fixed income aligns with Clear Street's expansion plans across new markets and asset classes, as well as its intent to increase availability to all market participants and provide solutions for clients seeking to migrate to a single-source platform.
