Deirdre Somers joins board of UK-based stock exchange Aquis

Aquis Exchange, a UK-based share trading platform for European shares, has appointed former Dublin stock market chief Deirdre Somers to its board, adding to her non-executive roles since stepping down from the Irish exchange two years ago.

Ms Somers (54) was appointed to the board of Dublin-listed mining firm Kenmare Resources in August, and is also a director of a number of funds run by US asset management giant BlackRock.

Aquis was set up in in 2012 by Alasdair Haynes with the aim of disrupting the business of Europe's top stock exchanges by offering traders a fixed subscription to complete an unlimited amount of trades. The company itself listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, and delivered a maiden profit for the first half of this year thanks to a surge in share trading as the effects of Covid-19 swept through financial markets.

"Deirdre is a true expert in public market structure, regulation and products, with a particular strength in European markets," said Niki Beattie, chair of Aquis. "Her experience will be extremely valuable to Aquis as we continue on our journey to become the leading exchange services group in Europe. "

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Aquis has set up a Paris unit to ensure it can continue to act as market for trading of EU-listed shares in case UK and the union fail to agree terms on financial market access after transition Brexit arrangements expire at the end of this year.

Ms Somers led the Irish Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2018, when she completed the sale of the business to pan-European bourse operator Euronext for almost €160 million. The exchange, which was previously owned by a group of Dublin stockbroking firms, was subsequently renamed Euronext Dublin.