William Bagley, the founding chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has died at 96. Bagley played a pivotal role in shaping the CFTC's early identity during a period marked by market turmoil and resistance to regulation. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1949 as valedictorian and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and earned his law degree from Berkeley Law in 1952, where he served on the California Law Review. Over a legal career spanning 63 years, including 35 as a partner at the national law firm Nossaman, he built a reputation for excellence and public service. In 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed him to lead the newly established CFTC, tasked with regulating the nation’s futures markets. His public service extended to roles on the Futures Industry Association's board of directors, the California Transportation Commission as chair, the Public Utilities Commission and the University of California Board of Regents.
CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham said, “Chairman Bagley was instrumental in laying the foundation for what has become the world’s preeminent derivatives regulator. As the first CFTC chairman, he shepherded our agency through its first years, executing on once-novel Congressional authorities and establishing a regulatory framework to expand risk mitigation tools for America’s growers, producers, builders and merchants.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Jamie Selway as director of the Division of Trading and Markets. Selway was recently a partner at Sophron Advisors. He also served as an advisor to multiple financial technology companies. Selway was previously a managing director and head of electronic brokerage at Investment Technology Group. Before that, he co-founded institutional brokerage White Cap Trading, where he was managing director and chairman. Earlier in his career, he was chief economist at Archipelago, worked in equity derivatives research at Goldman Sachs and was associate director of research at the National Association of Securities Dealers, now the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Nasdaq has appointed Christian Sjöberg as president of Nasdaq Clearing, with an expanded role that includes responsibility as head of post-trade strategy in Europe. Sjöberg will assume his new role on 1 September, subject to approval by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, and will report to Roland Chai, president of European Market Services, Nasdaq. Sjöberg joined Nasdaq in 2022 as head of business development and portfolio strategy for post-trade, where he has driven strategic initiatives supporting exchanges, CCPs and central securities depositories globally. Before Nasdaq, he held senior roles at HKEX, SIX x-clear and Oslo Clearing. He succeeds Patrik Löhr as president of Nasdaq Clearing.
Euronext has appointed Jakub Michalik as its chief policy officer and member of the executive committee. Michalik joins from the European Securities and Markets Authority, where he worked for 11 years, most recently as team leader of the International and Institutional Affairs Department. From 2011 to 2014, Michalik served as a parliamentary assistant to MEP Wolf Klinz on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament.
Eurex has appointed Mezhgan Qabool as head of sales EMEA for Eurex Trading and Clearing. She was previously the exchange's head of business development and sales APAC and the Middle East. Qabool will work alongside Jens Quiram, the global head of sales and marketing, and Cornelius Trenz, the head of sales America at Eurex.
Daniel Saltiel has joined TXSE Group, the parent company of the Texas Stock Exchange, as senior managing director of firm-wide strategy. Saltiel brings nearly a decade of experience at the US SEC, most recently as acting director of the Trading and Markets Division.
FIA European Principal Traders Association, the association that represents Europe’s leading market-making firms, has appointed Niels Lemmers, head of public affairs at Flow Traders, as its chair. He was previously vice chair of FIA EPTA and succeeds Alistair McGrath, chief executive of Tower Research Capital Europe, who had been chair since June 2023. Emma Lokko, head of market structure at Susquehanna, has been elected as vice chair to replace Lemmers.
Steffen Riediger has relocated to Singapore, where he will continue with European Energy Exchange as director of business development, focusing on driving further growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Riediger joined EEX in 2012 as senior expert, business development and has since held different positions within the company. He currently serves as director of business development, power and global commodity markets. Riediger has said he looks forward to “deepening relationships with clients, partners and regulators throughout APAC and ANZ… and developing robust, transparent, and reliable markets together.”
Marex has appointed Andrew Ko as head of Korea sales based in Hong Kong, where he will report to Franck Fayard, head of APAC for Marex Financial Products. Ko previously worked at Nomura Securities, where he was executive director of structured solutions sales for more than seven years. He has also served as vice president at Citi in Korea and as an analyst for Lehman Brothers.
Broadridge Financial Solutions has appointed Ken MacHarg as managing director, global head of futures and options trading to lead the commercial strategy and initiatives for Broadridge’s futures and options platform. He is based in New York and reports to Frank Troise, president of Broadbridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions. MacHarg joins from JP Morgan Securities, where he was managing director, global head of futures execution product and head of North America futures and derivative clearing. He has also held various senior-level positions at Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers.
Lee Betsill, former chief risk officer at CME Group, has started a consultancy and advisory service for the cleared derivatives and securities industry. Betsill has also announced that he will join the board of directors of Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation and Canadian Depository for Securities at TMX Group in Canada. He left CME in April 2025 after 15 years.
Singapore-based Neil Pabari has joined CME Group as head of APAC retail sales and distribution. Before joining CME, Pabari was at LSEG Data and Analytics for almost 14 years. His most recent post was head of customer connect, APAC, where he served for more than two years.
Martin Frewer, the global commercial director at ABN Amro Clearing’s UK arm, has retired. Frewer has served in the derivatives industry for more than 40 years, 20 of which at ABN Amro Clearing. He started his career in 1982 when he joined Gill and Duffus as a trader on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange floor.
Mike du Plessis, former head of listed derivatives at TP ICAP's Liquidnet, has left the industry to become a teacher. He is set to become head of economics and business at Clayesmore School in Dorset, UK, at the end of August, relocating from the US. He previously served as a managing director at UBS before departing in March 2019 to join TP ICAP as a senior managing director in July of that year. In March 2022, he moved to Liquidnet to lead the firm’s expansion into futures and options. Du Plessis also served as a board member of FIA Europe from 2013-2014.
Regulatory compliance technology provider Kaizen has appointed Michael Leach as chief revenue officer. Leach played an important role in setting up UnaVista, now LSEG Regulatory Reporting Solutions, and most recently served as global sales and regulatory reporting business development group director at LSEG. Leach will oversee Kaizen’s sales strategy, business development initiatives and revenue operations.