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People news – December/January 2021

Appointments, promotions and other people news in the derivatives industry

8 January 2021

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Obituary

FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken with George Gero at the Futures Hall of Fame Ceremony during Boca 2019
George Gero with FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken at the Futures Hall of Fame Ceremony, Boca 2019

FIA regrets to report that George Gero, a long-standing and widely respected member of the futures industry, passed away in December aged 84. Gero traded precious metals futures for more than 50 years and served on the boards of many industry groups, including the governing boards of several exchanges. Gero also served as the president of the International Precious Metals Institute and as the chairman of the Commodity Floor Brokers and Traders Association. His most recent position was as managing director in the New York office of Royal Bank of Canada’s wealth management division. Before that he was the vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets.

“George Gero was a wonderful man whose passing leaves a void for many of us," said FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken. "George was an enthusiastic evangelist for our industry who loved to tell stories with a twinkle in his eye and a love for passing his knowledge to the next generation. Whether it was his involvement in Futures and Options for Kids or the dinners we spent together in Bürgenstock, or last Boca when we inducted him to the Futures Hall of Fame, George approached life with passion and joy that was contagious. I will miss him dearly."

People News

Patrick Pearson
Patrick Pearson

Patrick Pearson, a long-serving and influential official in the financial services directorate of the European Commission, has retired after more than three decades of service. In his most recent position as head of financial market infrastructure, Pearson headed the team responsible for implementing the post-crisis reforms of the derivatives markets and regulating OTC derivatives and clearing and settlement. He also played a key role in developing the post-Brexit regulatory regime for non-EU clearinghouses. He previously headed the Commission's banking regulatory team and was responsible for the Financial Services Action Plan, which in 1999 was designed to create a single market for financial services in the EU. Before joining the European Commission in 1987 Pearson worked for the Dutch Finance Ministry.

LCH has appointed David Horner as chief risk officer, reporting directly to Isabelle Girolami, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group’s clearinghouse. Horner, who was previously head of risk for the clearinghouse's rates services, takes over from Dennis McLaughlin, who is moving into a new role as the group head of financial risk for LSEG. McLaughlin will serve on the group's post-trade leadership team following the completion of LSEG's proposed acquisition of Refinitiv. He will also retain the role of group chief risk officer of LCH. Susi de Verdelon, head of SwapClear and listed rates, will cover Horner’s previous role on an interim basis until a replacement is appointed.

Kate Birchall
Kate Birchall

LCH has also appointed Kate Birchall, head of Asia Pacific since 2018, as head of LCH sales, reporting jointly to Girolami and Christophe Hémon, CEO of LCH SA, the group's Paris-based clearinghouse. Birchall will lead the sales team in London and Paris and will relocate to London from Sydney to take up her new role during the first quarter.  

Jay Clayton, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has stepped down after more than three and half years in office. SEC Commissioner Elad Roisman has been named as interim SEC chairman. In related news, Brett Redfearn, the SEC's top official for the oversight of exchanges and broker-dealers, left the agency at the end of December. Christian Sabella, the deputy director of the trading and markets division, has been appointed acting director.

Paul Andrews, the secretary general of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, announced that he will step down on 25 February. Andrews, who joined IOSCO as secretary general in March 2016, will return to Washington, DC, where his family resides. His deputy, Tajinder Singh, who has worked at IOSCO since 2010, will be acting secretary general until a successor is appointed.

Intercontinental Exchange has appointed Jaime Klima as chief regulatory officer of NYSE Group, where she will oversee its independent regulatory unit, NYSE Regulation. Klima joins from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where she served CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert as chief of staff and chief operating officer. Earlier in her career, Klima held senior roles at the Securities and Exchange Commission, including chief counsel to the chairman. She was also counsel at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. Klima will fill a vacancy left in November, when Anthony Albanese, who had led the NYSE’s in-house regulatory unit, left to join Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm based in California.

Scott W. Anderson
Scott W. Anderson

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulatory organization for the US securities industry, has appointed Scott W. Anderson as executive vice president and head of market regulation and transparency services. He replaces Tom Gira, who passed away last year. Anderson will join Finra on 25 January and report to Robert Cook, president and CEO. He joins from Société Générale, where he served as managing director and chief compliance officer, Americas. Previously, Anderson held senior compliance and legal roles at UBS, Fidelity Investments and J.P. Morgan Chase.

Caroline Pham has been promoted to managing director, head of capital markets regulatory strategy and engagement at Citi with responsibility for overseeing all policy and supervisory engagement with the CFTC, SEC, NFA and Finra. She was previously deputy head of global regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Citi in 2014, Pham worked at the CFTC as special counsel and policy advisor to former CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia.

Credit Suisse has made two promotions in its prime services business in New York. William Black has been promoted to a managing director and Sean Healy has been appointed a director. Black is the global head of OTC clearing and cross margining within prime services and has been with Credit Suisse’s OTC clearing business since 2011. Healy has been with Credit Suisse for 13 years, much of which has been spent in various roles in the bank's futures commission merchant business. He has been a part of the broader prime sales teams for over two years.

Calvin Tai has taken on the role of interim chief executive at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing following the retirement of Charles Li on 31 December. Li's decision to step down as CEO was announced in September. Tai, who will be interim CEO until a new chief executive is appointed, will also continue in his role as co-president and chief operating officer. He joined HKEX Group in July 1998, following senior roles at ABM Amro Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and HSBC.

Caterina Caramaschi
Caterina Caramaschi

Intercontinental Exchange has promoted Caterina Caramaschi to global head of equity derivatives, reporting to Benjamin Jackson, president of ICE. The global equity derivatives business includes the MSCI and MICRO NYSE FANG+ index futures and FTSE Index futures and options. Caramaschi was previously head of equity derivatives. Prior to ICE, she was a senior manager, equity derivatives at the New York Stock Exchange.

Carol Kennedy, chief marketing and communications officer at Cboe Global Markets, has retired after 27 years with the company. Kennedy joined Cboe in 1993 as manager, editorial services, and subsequently served as media director, managing director of corporate communications, and vice president and chief communications officer. She was promoted to chief marketing and communications officer in 2018. Cboe has promoted Stacie Fleming to senior vice president, marketing and communications. Fleming previously was head of marketing and communications for Cboe Europe in London. She joined Cboe in 2017 as part of the acquisition of Bats Global Markets. In her new role, Fleming will oversee Cboe's global marketing and communications team from the company's Chicago headquarters.

Mike Lee has joined Wells Fargo as head of federal government relations, based in Washington, D.C. Lee joins from Bank Policy Institute, a trade group representing large banks, where he was senior vice president and head of government affairs. Prior to this he was head of government relations for The Clearing House Association. He also served as a congressional liaison with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, as the senior economist with the US Senate Banking Committee, and as a staffer to former US Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah).

Neal Kumar
Neal Kumar

Willkie Farr & Gallagher has promoted Neal Kumar to a partner within its corporate and financial services department. Kumar represents financial institutions, trading companies, trade associations, and hedge and private equity funds in a variety of regulatory, enforcement and transactional matters involving commodities and derivatives. He is also a member of the executive committee of the FIA Law & Compliance Committee. Kumar previously worked at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and was a counsel at the CFTC.

Eric Edwards has been appointed president of Mercantile Bank International, a global payments and digital asset custody bank based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. MBI was founded in 2019 and is chaired by former Nymex head Bo Collins. Edwards, who will split his time between Washington, D.C., and San Juan, joins from asset manager FS Investments where he was head of government affairs. Previously, he was a partner at Crowell & Moring and served as a vice president in the office of government affairs at Goldman Sachs.

Aileen Foster
Aileen Foster

RBC Capital Markets has promoted Aileen Foster to director in its quantitative and technology services group. She previously held the role of associate director, leading program and business management for the firm's commodities and futures technology. Foster, who joined the firm in 2010, served as a judge for FIA's Innovators Pavilion competition in 2019. 

Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange, brokerage and custodian, has appointed Richard Shade as head of operations as it prepares for launch. Shade was most recently head of custody at crypto exchange Bequant and before spent four and a half years at CME Group, most recently as head of market operations at CME Europe. He has also held operational roles at NYSE Liffe and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.

Maura Durkin has joined Ørsted, a Danish renewable energy company, as revenue compliance manager. Durkin previously worked at National Futures Association, the self-regulatory organization for the US futures industry, as a senior market regulation systems business analyst. She was also recently elected as a board of director for Women in Listed Derivatives.

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