James Christopher Smith

ING Financial Markets LLC (ING Financial) is a FINRA-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. They have additional offices in Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ING Financial Holdings Corp, itself a subsidiary of ING Groep NV (AMS: INGA) in The Netherlands. ING Financial offers a broad range of investment services to corporate and financial institutions, as well as other ING businesses. Their research team places a particular emphasis on emerging markets. Key product areas offered are: corporate and government debt, credit and equity derivatives, treasury products (including Repo and CP/CD issuance), interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange, structured products and securities financing.

ING-DiBa AG is the brokerage subsidiary of ING Holding Deutschland GmbH, which is ultimately held by Stichting ING Aandelen in The Netherlands. The firm is headquartered in Frankfurt and was founded in 1965. ING provides brokerage services.

ING Bank NV (Broker) (ING Bank-Broker) is the broker-dealer division of ING Bank NV, an investment bank headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ING Groep N.V. (AMS: INGA; NYSE: ING), a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation. The firm was founded in 1991 through the merger of Nationale-Nederlanden and NMB Postbank Groep. ING Bank-Broker provides brokerage services to institutions, large corporations, and medium-sized companies.

BNP Paribas (London Branch) is the Great Britain-based brokerage division of BNP Paribas SA (EPA: BNP) in France. The firm is headquartered in London and was founded in 1986. BNP Paribas (London Branch) offers a wide range of products and services to corporate, institutional, commodities, market making and broking clients.

Nordea Bank Abp (Broker Denmark) is the Denmark-based brokerage division of Nordea Bank Abp (STO: NDA-SE) in Finland. Headquartered in Oslo, the firm provides prime brokerage services to corporate and institutional clients.

BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP (BCM-UK) is an independent, Great Britain-based alternative asset management firm headquartered in London. The firm was founded in 2009 by Michael Platt and Bill Reeves to manage their flagship fund, BlueCrest Capital International. In 2015, they transitioned to a Private Investment Partnership and returned client capital. BCM-UK currently manages assets solely on behalf of their partners and employees.

Part of Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Raiffeisenbank as is a financial institution based in Prague, Czechia. The Czech company offers online banking, free accounts, loans, mortgages, investments, and more. Raiffeisenbank is a strong bank with a long tradition and experience in the financial market. Founded in 1993, Igor Vida has been the CEO of the company since 2015.

KB Economic & Strategy Research as is the Czech Republic-based securities brokerage subsidiary of Komercní banka as, which is owned by Société Générale SA (EPA: GLE) in France. Headquartered in Prague, the firm provides Czech economic, Global and local forex markets reports and analysis.

Northwestern University is a private institution founded in 1851 to serve the Northwest Territory, an area that now includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. Northwestern has three campuses