Craig Smithson, the long-time head of global futures and options at Pain Webber, worked in the securities industry for over 30 years and has a front-row seat on most of the major events of the era. He began his career in the futures business trading Treasury bill and Ginnie Mae contracts for Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette in 1976. A year later, he moved to Chicago and began working on the floor of Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he experienced firsthand the stock market crash of 1987, the FBI investigation and numerous other ups and down in the markets. After Paine Webber’s acquisition by UBS in 2000, he served as executive director with responsibility for client relationships. He retired from UBS in 2004. Smithson served on the FIA’s board for over a decade and chaired a few important FIA committees, notably the Clearing Link Committee set up after the Chicago Board of Trade announced its plans to transfer clearing to CME. He has been a member of the Chicago exchanges for over 25 years and has been appointed to numerous exchange committees.
