France based electronic trading and payments platforms provider smartTrade Technologies has announced the hiring of Tom Luker as Head of Corporate Development. Tom joins the Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to Co-Founder and CEO David Vincent, where he will spearhead the firm’s global M&A strategy and strategic investment initiatives.

The company said that the appointment of Tom marks a significant acceleration of smartTrade’s strategic roadmap to build a fully integrated ecosystem of products and services. This mission is designed to provide front-office clients with a unified, end-to-end trading and payments technology stack that enables them to monetize flows, reduce risk, and grow market share.

smartTrade said it is already well underway on this journey. A key milestone in this strategy was the recent acquisition of kACE, a leading financial technology provider for FX and interest rate derivatives pricing, analytics, and workflow solutions. Completed at the end of 2025, the platform integration is progressing ahead of schedule with smartTrade’s existing LiquidityFX (LFX) and Commercial Banking and Payments (CBP) solutions. This integration will provide a seamless experience across trading and payments, delivering enhanced value and efficiency to the global financial community. Tom’s leadership will be instrumental in identifying and executing further opportunities to broaden this ecosystem.

Tom Luker brings 15 years of high-level experience driving growth across financial market infrastructure, data, and technology. His extensive background is highlighted by nearly a decade at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), where he served as Co-Head of Corporate Development. He joins from Triple Private Equity, where he led software and data investments across the UK and Europe.

David Vincent, Co-Founder and CEO of smartTrade said,

“We are thrilled to welcome Tom to smartTrade at this pivotal moment. Our goal is to create the most robust, integrated front-office ecosystem in the market. The success we are seeing with the kACE integration proves the appetite for our unified cross asset Payments and Trading solutions. With Tom’s deep expertise in navigating complex M&A and his track record at LSEG, we are perfectly positioned to accelerate our growth and deliver even greater value to our clients.”

Tom Luker said,

“smartTrade has established itself as a clear innovator in trading and payments technology. I am excited to join such a high-performing team to help drive the next phase of the company’s evolution. The momentum from the kACE acquisition provides a fantastic foundation to build an ecosystem that truly addresses the needs of the modern front office.”

About smartTrade Technologies

Founded in 1999, smartTrade Technologies provides ultra-low latency electronic trading and payments solutions for financial institutions globally. Its secure, multi-asset SaaS platforms empower banks, brokers, buy-side institutions, and corporates to optimize their operations across FX, Fixed Income, Crypto, and more.