Aquis Exchange, a new pan-European equities trading platform that has piqued the interest of investors such as former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond, has hired a senior Liquidnet compliance officer ahead of its planned October launch.

Jon Knight, head of market surveillance for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the European arm of trading firm Liquidnet, is set to join Aquis to run its surveillance arm, according to two sources familiar with the situation.