OANDA Announces Appointment of Heads of Asia Pacific Region

Foreign exchange trading services provider OANDA said in a press release on Thursday that it is pleased to disclose the appointments of Louis Cooper as the Managing Director of its Australian operations, and Gavin Ward as the Head of Greater China.

The two are expected to help expand OANDA’s business interests and product offerings in Australia and New Zealand respectively, said OANDA in the statement posted on its website.

“Recent studies show a small decline of forex traders in most of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries, but OANDA is bucking the industry. We have shown strong growth in APAC year-over-year and continue to support our customers in these important markets,” said Rajesh Yohannan, the CEO and Managing Director of OANDA Asia Pacific.

“Given their expertise and insights, I know both Gavin and Louis will elevate our profile, our forex and CFD offerings, and help to define our fxTrade platform as the best choice for investors in each region.”

**relatedarticle**

With nearly two decades of experience in financial services, Ward will help expand OANDA’s business in Greater China region from the company’s office in Singapore. He was previously the Director of Asia at CMC Markets and member of the global General Executive Committee that helped craft CMC’s global strategy.

“I’m excited by the opportunity of this brand new role with OANDA as we have the tools, resources and the mindset to offer a better and fairer trading experience to clients in the Greater China region than any alternatives available,” said Ward, according to the statement.

“I believe the potential for OANDA is huge by offering a product specifically designed to help our clients’ trade smarter, spearheaded by outstanding educational tools and resources, and the innovative features of fxTrade, fxTrade Mobile and our MT4 solution.”

Cooper, who will operate out of OANDA’s Sydney office, also joins the company from CMC Markets, where his last role was as the Managing Director overseeing the Australia and New Zealand markets.  He was named one of the Top 5 Executives in Australia by CEO Magazine after he grew CMC’s market share substantially.

“We have a significant existing client base in Australia of active CFD and forex traders enjoying our award-winning platform, with superior execution speed and world class analytics tools,” Cooper said.

“With innovative offerings such as auto trading and access to multi asset class execution on MT4, I look forward to officially opening our Sydney office later this year to further support our valued clients and contributing to the company’s continued growth in the region.”

To contact the reporter of this story, Yashu Gola at Yashu@forexminute.com