Ebury poaches WA team

Global foreign exchange and trade finance company Ebury has expanded into Western Australia after recruiting a team from competitor AFEX.

The Perth office, which opened this week, is led by Chris Daw, who was previously senior business consultant at AFEX – Associated Foreign Exchange.

He will lead a team of six in Perth, including Ben Needham and Jordan Hughes, who also worked at AFEX.

London-based Ebury established its Australian operation in 2018 and has since opened offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

It has also opened offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The company said it has grown rapidly in Australia, competing head-on with large banks and increasing its revenue by more than 100 per cent last year.

Asia Pacific managing director Rick Roache said Ebury already had some customers in Western Australia and was looking to expand.

“Ebury has built a reputation as a market leader with our core products of spot FX, hedging, cash management and trade finance for importing and exporting SMEs,” Mr Roache said.

“Having our experts on the ground will significantly boost our compelling offering to the West Australian market.”

Mr Roache said Ebury’s target market extended to listed companies with turnover up to $500 million.

He believes its international network and specialist product focus provides a competitive edge over the major Australian banks.  

“We have found that outside our strong core FX hedging and payments solutions, these clients often regard our exotic FX and trade finance capabilities as totally unique, adding a genuine layer of value enhancement.”

Mr Roache said another strength was the financial backing of Spanish banking giant Banco Santander, which paid £350 million for a 50.1 per cent stake in Ebury in 2019.

Ebury has foreign exchange (FX) and trade finance capabilities in more than 130 currencies and offices in 20 countries linked by a single platform.