Pico Establishes Presence in China

Financial markets technology provider Pico has established a presence in China, with the formation of a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE), British Commercial Pico (Shanghai) Information Technology Co., Ltd.

As China’s markets continue to open up to foreign institutional investors, many top global banks, funds and trading firms are seeking to increase their presence in the country, home to some of the largest exchanges in the world. Last year, combined investments by foreign funds in Chinese stocks and bonds hit a record $212 billion.

Located near the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) data center and alternative trading locations in Shanghai, Pico’s Chinese operation is supported by local engineering and data center management expertise.

Initially, Pico will provide proximity hosting and fulfilment services in Shanghai and Shenzhen for non-exchange members as well as market data via its colocation facility in the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) data center.

Pico has already built out and is operating network and infrastructure in Shanghai and Shenzhen for one of the select number of foreign investors allowed to trade within the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) colocations.

In a press release, Roland Hamann, Chief Technology Officer & Head of APAC at Pico, said the firm has established a comprehensive connectivity and venue presence across Asia Pacific serving electronic trading participants, all supported by local teams. Pico grew its APAC footprint in 2020 with new colocations in Taiwan and the Republic of Korea and expanded further in Japan, offering ultra-low latency access to the JPX colocation ecosystem. Pico also added market data from SSE and SZSE to its market coverage.