Mercantile Exchange is a wholesale foreign exchange brokerage company – which essentially buys and sells foreign currency for companies with a need, rather than a desire to make profit.

Mercantile Exchange is a wholesale foreign exchange brokerage company – which essentially buys and sells foreign currency for companies with a need, rather than a desire to make profit. Mercantile Exchange’s clients can save money on their foreign exchange transactions by taking advantage of Mercantile Exchange’s large trading volume.

Established in Toronto, Canada in 1993, the London office is its first outside Canada.

Aim

Mercantile Exchange wanted to set up a London office as its European headquarters.

The company’s mission is to successfully attain a business presence throughout the United Kingdom through a combination of professionalism and expertise of its staff, competitive exchange rates, flexible terms and service offerings and through the active pursuit of companies looking to create a competitive advantage for themselves by leveraging the best prices in the Foreign Exchange Market.

Think London helped with: Finding suitable office accommodation Advising on living and working in the London area of Canary Wharf Referring Mercantile Exchange to relevant lawyers, accountants and other professional service providers to help with the move to London. Market factors London leads the world in a range of financial services, including foreign exchange trading, international equities trading, fund management, derivatives trading, Euro money derivatives trading, international insurance and bonds trading.

London is the historical home of banking and investment. Its reputation for stability and business-friendly regulation stretches back over centuries. Today, London is Europe’s largest investment banking centre. The London foreign exchange market is the largest in the world, with daily turnover of 31% of the global market – more than New York and Tokyo combined. London has established itself as the leading centre for Euro trading, with over 40% of London’s foreign exchange trading now involving the Euro. 

Business Success

Mercantile Exchange started life in London in a serviced office in Canary Wharf, east London, with one member of staff. It has quickly expanded to four people and aims to grow bigger to around ten and to move into its own offices towards the middle of 2008.

In their own words

“We have always wanted to set up an office in London because the banking system is very similar to the Canadian, and of course the Brits perfected banking as far as we’re concerned.

“London was the obvious choice for us. We already had some banking relationships with London even prior to coming here. We were doing some of our Canadian business and settling through London for our wire payments which made it much easier for us.

“We also felt that London is the ideal city to place yourself for access to the rest of Europe – once our London presence is fully up and running and is profitable we will venture out into the rest of Europe and Asia.

“Paula Cavanagh, our personal Business Development Manager at Think London was really amazing. We first started the relationship with Think London from Canada. We spoke for a while and then I flew to London with the owners of Mercantile Exchange to meet with Think London face to face. We had a whole day of events scheduled for us, including introductions to lawyers and other professional service providers who we needed to speak to about our London plans. Think London also took us round to see potential space for an office – the whole day was so well planned and constructive, especially as we had limited time in London.

“We couldn’t have achieved such a smooth set up into London without the help of Think London. We didn’t know anybody in London, we didn’t have any connections – it was all Think London and their help, they made it possible for us. We even put that statement on our website – they are such a great resource to any overseas company looking to come to London for the first time.

“We are very happy – every time the Canadian team comes to London, we don’t go back without meeting up with Think London. We always, always get in touch.”

Udish S Wijay 
Vice president and General Manager 
Mercantile Exchange Corporation