TNS Appoints Levent Mehmet as Managing Director, Asia Pacific, to Accelerate Financial Markets Growth Across the Region
Transaction Network Services (TNS), a global leader in connectivity and infrastructure solutions for financial markets, has announced the appointment of Levent Mehmet as Managing Director, Asia Pacific, for its Financial Markets division. The appointment marks a significant milestone in TNS’ strategic expansion across one of the world’s most dynamic trading environments. Based in Singapore, Mehmet will oversee regional strategy, drive sales growth, and deepen client engagement throughout Asia Pacific, reinforcing TNS’ long-term commitment to supporting market participants in an increasingly interconnected global trading ecosystem.
Strengthening Leadership at a Critical Moment for Asia’s Trading Landscape
Asia Pacific has emerged as a central hub for trading innovation, market structure evolution, and cross-border capital flows. From equities and derivatives to fixed income and alternative assets, liquidity is increasingly dispersed across venues, geographies, and time zones. Against this backdrop, TNS’ decision to appoint a seasoned executive with deep regional expertise reflects the company’s intention to scale its capabilities in alignment with market complexity and client demand.
In accepting the role, Mehmet expressed enthusiasm about joining TNS at what he described as a pivotal moment for both the company and the broader industry. He emphasized that Asia continues to play a defining role in shaping trading innovation globally and highlighted TNS’ expanding role in enabling firms to connect efficiently and grow across regional markets. According to Mehmet, TNS’ investments in market data connectivity, its robust global network infrastructure, and its strengthening relationships with leading exchanges position the firm as a critical partner for institutions seeking performance, optionality, and reliability.
A Veteran of Financial Market Data and Infrastructure
Mehmet brings more than 25 years of experience in financial market data, trading infrastructure, and exchange connectivity. Prior to joining TNS, he spent 17 years with ICE Data Services, where he played an instrumental role in driving the company’s expansion throughout Asia Pacific. His tenure at ICE Data Services coincided with a period of rapid transformation in electronic trading and data distribution, giving him firsthand exposure to the operational and strategic challenges facing global institutions.
Earlier in his career, Mehmet held senior positions with SIX and Bloomberg, gaining experience across Europe and the Middle East. This diverse geographic and institutional background has equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of exchange ecosystems, regulatory frameworks, and client needs across multiple jurisdictions. His track record of building partnerships, expanding distribution, and delivering scalable infrastructure solutions aligns closely with TNS’ objectives in Asia Pacific.
Responding to Rapidly Evolving Global Market Dynamics
The expansion of overnight trading in the United States is a clear example of how quickly global markets are evolving. As trading hours extend and liquidity becomes increasingly fragmented across venues, participants require seamless connectivity that transcends traditional geographic boundaries. Firms operating in Asia are no longer confined to regional markets during local trading hours; instead, they actively engage with U.S. and European exchanges during overlapping or extended sessions.
Mehmet noted that liquidity dispersion across multiple venues has elevated the importance of access and optionality. By continuously adding new trading venues and exchange connections to its network, TNS ensures that clients can capitalize on emerging opportunities, whether that involves trading U.S. equities during Asian hours or expanding exposure to new asset classes. The ability to adapt rapidly to structural shifts in market hours, clearing models, and data distribution mechanisms has become a competitive differentiator for infrastructure providers. Under Mehmet’s leadership, TNS aims to scale this adaptability across Asia Pacific.
Expanding Regional Coverage Across Key Financial Centers
In his new role, Mehmet will oversee TNS teams in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore while also supporting clients across China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Each of these markets presents distinct regulatory environments, exchange structures, and technological requirements. By establishing leadership rooted in regional expertise, TNS intends to strengthen localized service delivery while maintaining global standards of reliability and performance.
Asia Pacific’s diversity requires infrastructure partners capable of balancing global integration with local responsiveness. Singapore and Hong Kong remain vital gateways for international capital flows, while Japan continues to represent a mature, technologically advanced trading ecosystem. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia’s emerging markets are experiencing rapid digitalization and increased cross-border participation. By aligning regional leadership with these varied market dynamics, TNS seeks to reinforce its footprint across both established and high-growth trading hubs.
Reinforcing Client-Centric Strategy and Exchange Relationships
Rick Gilbody, Global Head of Sales and Marketing for TNS Financial Markets, described Mehmet’s appointment as a reaffirmation of the company’s commitment to long-term growth across key trading centers. According to Gilbody, strengthening local leadership enhances TNS’ ability to align its network capabilities and exchange partnerships with the evolving needs of firms operating across multiple markets.
In financial markets infrastructure, proximity to clients and exchanges is essential. Trading firms demand low-latency connectivity, secure data transmission, and consistent uptime across regions. They also require insight into local regulatory changes, venue expansions, and technological upgrades. By reinforcing its regional leadership bench, TNS aims to deepen engagement with clients and exchanges alike, ensuring its solutions remain responsive to market developments.
A Global Network Built for Scale and Resilience
TNS’ Financial Markets business operates a global network comprising more than 5,000 financial community endpoints and a 125-point-of-presence footprint worldwide. This extensive infrastructure is purpose-built to address the needs of brokers, banks, asset managers, proprietary trading firms, and exchanges. The company’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service portfolio encompasses connectivity, colocation, cloud access, market data distribution, and secure VPN solutions.
A key differentiator within TNS’ offering is TNS Market Data Services, recognized as the only vendor-agnostic turnkey solution for global market data. By providing neutral, consolidated access to multiple data sources, TNS simplifies the operational complexity that institutions often face when integrating feeds from numerous exchanges and vendors. This approach enables clients to reduce infrastructure burdens while maintaining flexibility in data sourcing and distribution.
The company’s solutions are monitored continuously—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year—by Network Operations Centers located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Malaysia. This around-the-clock oversight ensures resilience, rapid issue resolution, and consistent service levels across time zones. As markets expand trading hours and demand uninterrupted access, such operational redundancy becomes increasingly critical.
Positioning for Long-Term Growth in Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific’s financial markets are characterized by rapid technological adoption, regulatory modernization, and increasing cross-border integration. Exchanges across the region are investing in advanced matching engines, expanded product listings, and digital connectivity enhancements. At the same time, institutional investors are diversifying portfolios globally, necessitating robust infrastructure that can bridge markets efficiently.
Under Mehmet’s leadership, TNS intends to capitalize on these trends by scaling its network capabilities, strengthening exchange coverage, and deepening client partnerships. His experience navigating complex infrastructure expansions and building regional teams positions him to guide TNS through the next phase of growth. By focusing on strategic expansion rather than reactive adaptation, the company aims to anticipate client needs and invest proactively in network enhancements.
Driving Smarter, Faster Trading Across Borders
As electronic trading continues to dominate global markets, speed, reliability, and scalability are paramount. Firms must process increasing volumes of data, manage algorithmic strategies across venues, and ensure compliance with evolving regulations. Infrastructure providers such as TNS play a foundational role in enabling this activity.
Mehmet’s emphasis on helping clients “trade smarter and faster” encapsulates the company’s mission in Asia Pacific. By combining new market data connectivity with proven network infrastructure and strong exchange relationships, TNS seeks to empower institutions to capture opportunities as they arise. Whether facilitating access to overnight U.S. sessions, expanding regional exchange connectivity, or simplifying multi-venue data integration, TNS’ platform is designed to support modern trading demands.
A Strategic Step Toward Deeper Regional Engagement
The appointment of Levent Mehmet as Managing Director, Asia Pacific, represents more than a leadership change; it signals TNS’ intention to intensify its engagement across Asia’s financial centers. By aligning regional strategy with global infrastructure strength, the company aims to provide institutions with the tools required to navigate an increasingly interconnected marketplace.
As liquidity becomes more dispersed, trading hours expand, and data volumes grow exponentially, infrastructure resilience and adaptability will remain central to competitive success. Through strengthened leadership, expanded exchange relationships, and continued investment in scalable connectivity solutions, TNS is positioning itself as a long-term partner for financial market participants across Asia Pacific and beyond.
About Transaction Network Services (TNS)
Founded in 1990 and with headquarters in the USA and offices across Europe and Asia, TNS is a leading provider of mission-critical infrastructure, connectivity, market data and analytic services for the Financial Markets community. Delivered as a fully managed Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering, TNS provides an unrivalled, global, mission-critical footprint that can significantly help reduce the burdens, complexities and costs attributed to firms ‘going direct.’ Through its ultra-low latency connectivity, its global market data offerings and its dedicated 24x7x365 local support, TNS remains the trusted solution provider to more than 750 counterparties globally.
