The ex-Credit Suisse boss' plans for a new financial services firm are taking shape. The investment banker plans nothing less than disrupting the securities business.

After Brady Dougan left the CEO seat at Credit Suisse in 2015, the American investment banker wanted to found a new type of investment bank – harnessing technology to offer more efficient and cheaper services than traditional securities houses.

Dougan secured money from Qatar and Saudi Arabia for the new venture – which aimed to rival big Wall Street houses for principal investments, investment banking and trading, including proprietary buying and selling. It was a bid to resuscitate a dying breed, finews.com wrote in 2016.

Broker-Dealer vs Bank

Five years on, the world is radically different – and Dougan has opted to register Exos Financial as a broker-dealer, and not a bank. The CSFB veteran didn't muster the $3 billion he had originally wanted for the venture.

Instead, he collected $750 million, including from Atlas Merchant Capital, the venture arm of ex-Barclays boss Bob Diamond. California-based Anthen Venture, specialized in technology, also put money up. 

 Reinventing Wall Street

Exos Financial's mission and goal have shifted considerably since its inception: the company built an institutional finance platform from scratch to redesign how financial services are supplied, using technology, data engineering and data science, according to Dougan's LinkedIn profile.

Dougan's vision in 2017 was to rethink how institutional investors get Wall Street services: instead of an investment bank, Exos Financial provides a service for investors and investment banks who want to do just about anything in capital markets. 

High-Frequency Link

Exos Financial promises «transparency across all areas of capital markets» – while remaining opaque. The company's website is inaccessible without a personally-vetted registration – finews.com apparently failed the «background check,» and wasn't able to access Exos' website. 

The scant information that is publicly available on Exos shows that Dougan has assembled a series of Wall Street veterans including Joseph Squeri as a co-founder as well as tech and operating chief. Squeri was chief information officer at Citadel, Ken Griffin's well-known hedge fund, until 2016.

WeWork Manhattan Offices

Exos' tech focus is evidenced with partners including Ronak Khichadia and Dewey Tucker. Both were previously with Knight Capital Group, a leading high-frequency house with a substantial share in U.S. equity trading (its software also malfunctioned in Wall Street's most expensive bungle – $440 million – in 2012).

Besides the co-founder and partners, Dougan has assembled a group of nearly 50 highly-qualified Wall Streeters in Manhattan's Wework-operated Tower 49 (once home to First Boston).

2020 Start

They include Jill Ostergard, previously head of compliance at Barclays' investment bank, and Bronwen Bastone, human resources specialist. Both are Exos partners.

Dougan, who turns 61 in August, and his team have used the last two years to build the tech platform as well as to gauge interest among potential clients. Exos is to begin distribution and marketing activities this year. 

Rivals On Notice

Dougan aims for no less than a total disruption of his former industry, investment banking. The odds on this are mixed, according to Aite: because of a flexible and scalable business model, «Exos is a strong candidate to disrupt the traditional investment banking world,» the research firm wrote in February.

Exos faces challenges in convincing clients it is better than large, dominant banks. «The upcoming year will be a critical moment for Exos, as unfortunately, time can be an evil reality for even the healthiest of startups,» Aite noted. It advised «incumbents, direct and indirect competitors, and technology vendors to pay close attention going forward.»