Zealous Trading Group, Inc. (OTCBB: ZLST, ZATS; http://www.ZealousATS.com; see merger information in About Zealous Trading Group below) has appointed Sothi Thillairajah as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Thillairajah brings a unique combination of professional experiences to the company, having spent more than ten years on Wall Street as a cash equities and equity derivatives salesman and also having served as an officer of multiple publicly traded companies.
Mr. Thillairajah has served for the past three months as the Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Zealous Holdings, Inc. and as a consultant to Zealous Trading Group, where he played an instrumental role in the company’s recent capital raise. Prior to joining Zealous Holdings, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Tatonka Oil and Gas, Inc., a publicly traded oil and gas company, based in Denver, Colorado. He also held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Director a publicly traded VOIP telecom company in La Jolla, California. In addition to his public company experience, Mr. Thillairajah has extensive experience in the securities industry. He served as a Director in the derivatives group of Societe Generale, focusing on hedge funds, and also worked for Commerz Bank in a similar capacity. Prior to undertaking a role in equity derivatives marketing, Mr. Thillairajah’s began his career in the securities business as an international equity salesman at Nomura Securities focusing on Emerging European equities, and also served in similar roles at BNP Paribas as a Vice President and at Bankers Trust as a Principal.
Mr. Thillairajah graduated cum lade with a BA in Economics from the University of Rochester and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a Tamil Sri Lankan, born in Colombo and he grew up in Bethesda, Maryland.
“Mr. Thillairajah has developed an admirable reputation in the micro-cap world for his unwavering integrity, devotion to efficient business process and commitment to maximizing shareholder equity value.” said Zealous Trading Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Milton “Todd” Ault III. “With his background in equities, derivatives and public company management, Zealous stands to benefit significantly from his experience. We look forward to drawing on his expertise as we bring our comprehensive ZATS platform to fruition.”
“I have spent my adult life as an avid investor in PIPEs and restricted securities,” said Sothi Thillairajah. “It is deeply fulfilling and exciting to be given the opportunity to contribute to the development of the ZATS platform, which has the potential transform and truly serve the restricted and illiquid spectrum of the securities market by providing transparency and liquidity.”
About Zealous Trading Group, Inc.
On July 16, 2007, Zealous Trading Group, Inc. (fka Atlantic Syndication Network, Inc.), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (“Merger Agreement”) with its wholly-owned subsidiary, ASNI II, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ASNI-II”) and Zealous Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Zealous”). The Merger Agreement provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, Zealous will merge with and into ASNI-II, with ASNI-II as the surviving corporation of the merger (the “Merger”). As a result of the Merger, Zealous will become a wholly owned subsidiary, through which our operations will be conducted.
Zealous owns Zealous ATS, LLC, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Zealous Capital Markets, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and registered Broker-Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC.
About Zealous ATS, LLC
Zealous ATS, LLC (Alternative Trading System) or “ZATS” plans to be a global electronic marketplace used to support and execute trades for buyers and sellers of restricted and illiquid securities.
Zealous Alternative Trading System, in connection with Transfer Online Technology Development, LLC, has been tested and used successfully for over 18 months with a major NYSE financial institution, trading a single stock under Rule 144a. Now, ZATS has been rolled out to a limited number of users, providing them the ability to trade restricted stock and illiquid securities of over 1,100 public and private company securities on a negotiated basis.
The next generation of ZATS, now under development, will offer an integrated electronic platform for the trading of alternative assets globally. The ZATS marketplace will be a global community of trading counterparties. The intention is to provide an infrastructure on which to optimize the investment and trading strategies for participants.
ZATS will combine an open trading platform with an automated documentation, escrow, transfer and settlement support. It brings technology to the cumbersome, fragmented and paper intensive transaction process for the primary offering and secondary trading market for: PIPE offerings (private investment in public equity); warrants; domestic and international private equity offerings; Rule 144a equity securities; restricted stock of public companies; block sales of thinly traded non-NMS registered stock; limited partnership offerings and secondary LP interests; structured equity and debt products including emerging markets, illiquid bonds, and loans.
ZATS will bring buyers and sellers together seamlessly and anonymously creating a more liquid, fluid centralized marketplace. Users will include: hedge funds; domestic and foreign Broker-Dealers, registered investment advisors; domestic and foreign issuers; accredited individuals; family offices; mutual funds; attorneys and accountants; corporate insiders; affiliates; minority stakeholders; private equity and venture capital funds; real estate syndicates; and third party marketers.
For more information, visit http://www.ZealousATS.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words such as plans, expects, should, believes, anticipates or words of similar import. Stockholders, potential investors and other readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are predictions based only on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future events or results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of those risks and uncertainties are discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-KSB and quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB. These forward-looking statements are only made as of the date of this press release and Zealous Trading Group, Inc., does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances