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Garret Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl of Cowley (born 30 March 1965), styled Viscount Dangan from 1975 to 2016, is a British hereditary peer and businessman. Previously an entrepreneur in derivatives and foreign exchange trading, he is the founder and CEO of UK alternative lender Wellesley & Co.
Wellesley’s financial career began in 1985 as a derivatives trader at the London stockbroking firm Hoare Govett, from where he moved to two further derivatives trading roles at Banque Indosuez and ING Charterhouse.[3] In 1992, he became head of foreign exchange trading at global metals trader Gerald Metals.[3]
In 1995, he established the UK foreign exchange market maker IFX, which specialised in contracts for difference (CFDs) and spread bets on equity prices.[2] In 1999, he and another director, Lorenzo Naldini, purchased the 51% of the business owned by its US parent company IFX Corp in a buyout that left them as sole shareholders.[4]
In 2000, IFX was bought by the football pools operator Zetters for £20.4million in a reverse takeover, forming a new entity – IFX Group – with Wellesley as group chief executive.[5] Two years later the company sold its pools business.[6]
In 2003, Wellesley and Naldini left IFX following a disagreement with the board and co-founded ODL Securities, an online foreign exchange and derivatives broker.[7][8]
In 2005, ODL was the whistleblower in an attempted banking fraud by US hedge fund Bayou. Bayou opened an account with ODL, depositing $101million and requesting two transactions that were refused by the management, who notified the UK Financial Services Authority.[9]
In 2010, Wellesley and Naldini sold their 50% stake in ODL to US foreign exchange firm FXCM Holdings, creating a business employing around 1,000 staff.[10] In December that year, the newly enlarged entity floated on the New York Stock Exchange.[11]
In 2013, Graham Wellesley co-founded alternative lender Wellesley & Co with three other shareholders, taking the role of chief executive.[12] The following year the company issued what at the time was the largest ever loan by a peer-to-peer lender – a £8.3million bridging loan to a UK urban regeneration scheme.[13]
Personal life
Graham Wellesley is married to Claire (Brighton) Wellesley, with whom he has two sons and a daughter.[1]
^ abcdCoppock, John (22 August 2002). "IFX Chief plays against odds: Nobleman Wellesley focuses on tax-free financial speculation". Wall Street Journal.
^"IFX applies to join LME". Metal Bulletin. 15 July 1999.