THE NEW York Stock Exchange is to expand its Euronext technical service centre in Belfast, creating up to 500 specialised jobs over the next two years.
The announcement was made at Stormont Castle by NYSE chief executive Duncan Niederauer alongside the First Minister, Deputy First Minister and Industry Minister.
The announcement comes 21 months after the NYSE bought Belfast-based Wombat Financial Software for $200 million as part of a plan to generate more revenue from technology to cut reliance on fees from trading stocks and derivatives as competition intensifies in the US and Europe.
The attraction of so many “high-end” jobs is being seen as highly significant and representative of the type of enduring employment the region needs to attract.
Mr Niederauer said his company welcomed the opportunity, along with inward investment agency InvestNI, to expand its presence in Belfast. “Northern Ireland will become increasingly important to our global growth strategy and complement our technology centres in Paris and London,” he said.
“Together, these centres of excellence will enable us to effectively address the growing technology and trading needs of our customers and our company.”
Asked if political stability in Northern Ireland was a key factor in the decision to invest, Mr Niederauer replied: “I think that’s one of the boxes that you check when you think about making an investment. I would say that was absolutely a factor, no doubt about it.”
The investment follows last week’s visit to Belfast by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who stressed the need for the North to present an image of peace and stability to international investors.
US economic envoy Declan Kelly said the commitment by NYSE Euronext comes at a time “when real momentum is building behind Northern Ireland and the great work being undertaken on its behalf by InvestNI”.
He added: “The world has seen very clearly that the US government is strongly supportive of the compelling business case that Northern Ireland represents as a location for potential foreign investment by US companies.”
The announcement “serves to shine a light on the region as one of the best in the world for such investments because of the attractive operating environment, the competitive business case and a highly educated workforce with the strongest of work ethics”.
Mr Niederauer said the initiative began with a breakfast meeting with former first minister Ian Paisley and Mr McGuinness in New York two years ago, shortly after devolution was restored.
“I had been CEO for about 15 minutes when I went to my first event as chief executive,” he said. Mr McGuinness said yesterday no one should doubt the scale and significance of the expansion which he described as “a major endorsement of our local talent, knowledge and infrastructure”.
“It will send a clear message to other potential investors when such a high profile institution decides to invest here.”
Mr Robinson said the decision to expand was especially significant “particularly at a time when global competition for such investment has never been higher”.
“NYSE Technologies is an enterprise which works at the very core of the trading world, developing advanced software solutions for global trading markets,” he added.
Industry Minister Arlene Foster linked the announcement to last year’s US-Northern Ireland investment conference in Belfast which attracted dozens of entrepreneurs before the worst of the global downturn struck.
“NYSE Euronext’s commitment to Northern Ireland sends a strong message to other potential investors that this is an exceptional place to locate and grow a business,” she said.
SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell also welcomed the investment. “The formulation of these high-end ICT jobs is exactly what we need to capitalise upon the talents of our well-educated workforce and to kick-start the economy,” he said.
