The LSE Directory / Prop firms
IMC (originally International Marketmaker's Combination) is an Amsterdam-headquartered proprietary trading firm and market maker founded in 1989 by two floor traders on the Amsterdam Equity Options Exchange, Rob Defares and Rene Schelvis. The firm builds its own quantitative research, software and trading infrastructure to provide continuous two-sided liquidity in equities, listed options, ETFs, futures, fixed income, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency, connecting to more than 120 trading venues worldwide. It trades exclusively with its own capital and does not manage money for outside investors. IMC specialises in options and ETF market making at scale rather than discretionary or client-facing trading; it describes itself as a top three global liquidity provider in listed options and lead market maker in more than 150 US-listed ETFs. A defining differentiator versus most electronic market makers is its Designated Market Maker role on the NYSE floor: in 2014 IMC acquired Goldman Sachs's DMM rights, taking on affirmative market making obligations for roughly 630 securities and about 400 listed companies, a physical-floor presence most pure quant trading firms do not hold. The firm entered digital assets by acquiring Zug-based algorithmic trading firm Tensor Technologies in 2022, which now operates as IMC Zug AG. The company grew from its Amsterdam trading-floor origins into a global operation with roughly 2,070 employees of more than 70 nationalities across ten offices, including Chicago, Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul, Mumbai, London, New York and Zug alongside Amsterdam. In its 2024 annual report, its 35th anniversary year, IMC reported net trading revenues of 2,235 million dollars, up 63 percent year on year, and average daily transaction volume of 10.5 million. IMC is privately held and employee owned. In 2024 IMC redomiciled its top holding company to the United States, received FCA approval for its London entity, and obtained a QFII license enabling it to trade commodity options in China, extending its regulatory footprint alongside its existing licenses in the jurisdictions where it makes markets.
