Kevin Houstoun
Global Transaction Messaging Consultant
HSBC Bank
FPL Global Technical Co-Chair

After graduating, in 1985, with an engineering and management degree, from the Special Engineering Programme at Brunel University, Kevin joined KPMG, as a audit trainee and then as a consultant, Kevin spent 4 years working on various assignments ranging from the privy purse audit at Sandringham to designing and coding a swaps valuation system.

Leaving KPMG in 1989 Kevin worked as a self employed IT consultant for 2 years and then as part of the team that acquired the magnetic separation business of Cryogenic Consultants Limited from receivership. This business was put on a sound footing and a majority shareholding was sold to an American investor (Carpco Inc). Here I worked as joint managing director on business strategy, general and financial management and line reporting into the US parent company. The company was eventually acquired by Outokumpu http://www.outokumpu.com/ .

In 1996 Kevin joined Robert Fleming, looking at emerging technologies for the group from either an investment or usage perspective. As part of this period Kevin looked at FIX (Financial Information Exchange) as a possible candidate for use within the firm. Having concluded that FIX was a useful piece of technology for Robert Fleming Asset Management but FIX engines where, at the time, little more than expensive parsing software Kevin then wrote a FIX engine.  Robert Flemings gave this FIX engine away as a tool to help others learn about FIX.

In 1999 Kevin joined the recently formed European Equity Electronic Trading team at Salomon Brothers. Over the next 5 years this team grew into a large electronic trading operation. In 2005 Kevin moved to HSBC Investment Bank where he is a consultant and represents HSBC on the Global Technical Committee.

Kevin co-leads the Global Technical Committee, http://www.fixprotocol.org/committees/gtc , with Matt Simpson of the CME. Kevin is also leads the repository, http://www.fixprotocol.org/working_groups/repwg , and web services, http://www.fixprotocol.org/working_groups/wswg , working groups.