Tower Research Capital

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Tower Research Capital LLC
TypeLimited liability company (LLC)
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedFebruary 1998 (1998-02)
Founders
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Number of locations
11
Key people
  • Albert An (CEO)
  • Mark Gorton (chairman)
ServicesHigh-frequency trading services
Number of employees
c. 1,400+ (2026)
SubsidiariesLatour Trading
Websitetower-research.com

Tower Research Capital (also known as Tower Research) is an American quantitative trading firm. Tower Research is headquartered in New York, with additional offices in Chicago, South Charleston, Montreal, London, Amsterdam, Gurgaon, GIFT City, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.[1]

History

Tower Research Capital is one of the oldest automated trading firms.[2] It was started by Mark Gorton and Alistair Brown in February 1998.[3][4]

Tower's internal trading teams are independent from one another, enjoying autonomy while accessing shared technology resources such as hardware, software, and connectivity as well as resources such as business management, legal, compliance, and risk management. Tower is connected to more than 150 global trading venues.[5]

Tower's quantitative trading teams are supported by a centralized engineering infrastructure responsible for market connectively, data systems, research computing, and risk management. The firm has also invested in global post-trade processing systems as its trading operations expansion.[6]

In addition to its core quantitative trading business, Tower operates a venture capital arm, Tower Research Ventures, which invests in early-stage companies.[7]

In August 2019, founder Mark Gorton stepped down as chief executive officer and became chairman. Albert An, who joined the firm in 2016 and served as its technology lead, succeeded him as CEO.[2]

In 2025, Tower Research increased its investment in cryptocurrency trading through Limestone Trading, one of its internal quantitative trading teams. The firm expanded capital allocated to its crypto strategies and upgraded infrastructure to increase its role as a market maker on global cryptocurrency exchanges.[8]

Operations

Tower Research Capital is a proprietary trading firm that develops and operates automated quantitative trading strategies across global financial markets.[9][10]

As of 2025, Tower employed more than 1,100 people worldwide, including quantitative researchers, software engineers, and traders.[11]

In 2023, Tower leased a 121,903-square-foot space at 120 Broadway,[12] consolidating its two existing New York City offices into a single office in the Equitable Building.[13]

In 2014 Tower Research's wholly owned subsidiary Latour Trading, which sometimes accounted for 9% of U.S. stock trading, was fined a record $16 million for violating the net capital rule. Latour deliberately mis-estimated its exposure to risk and traded despite not holding enough capital.[14]

In 2019 Tower Research was fined $67.4 million for manipulating the markets in E-mini financial futures contracts by spoofing. Tower traders placed thousands of orders for futures contracts that it never intended to execute.[15] Three traders were criminally charged and two pled guilty in the case.[16][17] Tower subsequently settled a class-action lawsuit for $15 million.[18]

In 2021 a suit alleging spoofing by Tower Research brought by Korean investors was decided in favor of Tower when the court ruled that trading on the Korean exchange was not subject to the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act.[19]

See also

References

  1. "Offices". Tower Research Capital. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  2. Abelson, Max; Leising, Matthew (August 1, 2019). "Mark Gorton Steps Down as CEO of HFT Firm Tower Research Capital". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. Patterson, Scott (September 13, 2010). "Man Vs. Machine: Seven Major Players in High-Frequency Trading". CNBC.
  4. "Here's how much top market makers are paying their traders, engineers, researchers, and others". Business Insider. March 31, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. "About Us". Tower Research Capital. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  6. "Tower Research Selects Torstone for Global Cross-Asset Post-Trade Services". A-Team. 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  7. "Ventures". Tower Research Capital. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  8. Antony, Anto (2025-05-05). "Tower Research Ramps Up Crypto Bets Amid Market Rebound". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  9. Shah, Jill (2026-06-19). "Tower Research Capital muscles in on fast-growing fixed-income ETFs". Financial Times. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
  10. Mucklejohn, Lars (2026-04-21). "US trading firm Tower Research plots Jersey subsidiary". FN London. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
  11. "About Us". Tower Research Capital. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  12. Mark Hallum (2023-09-06). "Trading Firm Tower Research Consolidating NYC Offices to 122K SF at 120 Broadway". Commercial Observer. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  13. Long, Ciara (2023-09-06). "Silverstein Lands HQ Of Tech-Oriented Trading Firm At 120 Broadway". Bisnow. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
  14. Patterson, Scott (September 17, 2014). "High-Frequency Trading Firm Latour to Pay $16 Million SEC Penalty". The Wall Street Journal.
  15. "Tower Research Capital LLC Agrees to Pay $67 Million in Connection With Commodities Fraud Scheme" (Press release). U.S. Dept. of Justice. November 11, 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  16. "Three Traders Charged, and Two Agree to Plead Guilty, in Connection with over $60 Million Commodities Fraud and Spoofing Conspiracy" (Press release). U.S. Dept of Justice. October 12, 2018. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  17. Scharf, Rachel (July 9, 2021). "Ex-Tower Research Trader Ducks Jail Time In Spoofing Case". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  18. Sax-McCleod, Andrew (February 3, 2021). "American firm's spoofing saga continues; results in $15 million settlement to traders". Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  19. Godoy, Jody (June 22, 2021). "2nd Circuit upholds Tower Research win in Korean futures case". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-06-04.