Obituary
FIA is saddened to report the passing of Nick Carew Hunt, an integral part of London's futures community and the growth of the derivatives industry in both the UK and Europe. He died at the age of 71 on 15 January after a short illness. As the long-time Market Secretary of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), Carew Hunt led the trading venue through numerous phases of growth and innovation including the Royal Exchange floor creation and the move to electronic futures trading. He was also an integral part of the organization's incorporation into Euronext and later the Intercontinental Exchange, where LIFFE was eventually rebranded as ICE Futures Europe.
"Nick was at the center of some of the biggest evolutions our markets saw across the last four decades. But more importantly, he was a valuable friend and mentor to many across this industry. His deep knowledge as well as his good humor will be missed," said FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken.
People news
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has made several changes to its senior management lineup. The exchange group has appointed Bonnie Chan as co-chief operating officer, working with co-COO Wilfred Yiu. Together they will oversee all operational matters of HKEX’s business, reporting to CEO Nicolas Aguzin. John Buckley, the previous co-COO, retired at the end of November.
In addition, Glenda So has been appointed HKEX’s group head of emerging business and FIC. She will oversee market policy and development, in addition to her current responsibilities leading fixed income and currency markets, data and connectivity, digital assets and carbon/ESG markets. In London, Matthew Chamberlain, group head of commodities and CEO of the London Metal Exchange, will become responsible for all of HKEX’s commodities business, including the Qianhai Mercantile Exchange and global commodities product development.
In other moves, the London Metal Exchange has confirmed that Gay Huey Evans, chair of the board, will not seek re-election and plans to step down after LME picks a replacement. Once the transition takes place, Evans will take on the role of senior advisor to HKEX’s commodities business. Evans joined the LME as its first female chair in 2019. She is a former vice-chair of investment banking and investment management at Barclays Capital and served as head of governance of Citi Alternative Investments (EMEA) and president of Tribeca Global Management (Europe).
The LME also announced that two new independent non-executive directors, Martin Fraenkel and Pierre Vareille, will be appointed to the LME board in Q1 2023, subject to FCA approval. Fraenkel is the former president of S&P Global Platts. Prior to that, he was the global head of energy at CME Group. Vareille was formerly chief executive of aluminum manufacturer Constellium. He is currently vice chair of the board at Vallourec and Verallia, both listed in France.
Elsewhere, Tom Hine, LME Group general counsel and head of enforcement, will step down at the end of January after 17 years at the exchange.
Mark Wassersug retired from Intercontinental Exchange in December after 21 years at the company. In 2017 he was named COO, with responsibility for day-to-day operations as well as supporting the company's global infrastructure, data centers, networks, and corporate IT systems. In December 2021, he transitioned into a new role as chief information officer, with Stuart Williams taking over the role of chief operating officer.
Intercontinental Exchange has hired Gary King, the former chief executive of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, as the new president of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi. King replaces Jamal Oulhadj who has left the exchange group. Oulhadj had been in the role since the beginning of 2020, joining from RJ O’Brien, where he was CEO of R.J.O'Brien (MENA) Capital.
BlackRock has formed a new unit to be managed by Manish Mehta, its former head of human resources. Mehta will run the BlackRock Global Markets Group, overseeing global trading, lending and liquidity, and several other functions. Meanwhile, Supurna VedBrat, who runs BlackRock’s global trading, will step down and be replaced by co-heads Dan Veiner and Jatin Vara. Currently, Veiner leads fixed income trading and Vara leads international and emerging markets trading. VedBrat, whose departure date has not yet been confirmed, has run BlackRock’s global trading business for the past five years and co-headed it for the prior four years. In an internal memo, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and President Rob Kapito said: “Supurna has told us she believes this transition is the right opportunity for Dan Veiner, Jatin Vara and a new generation of trading leaders to take the platform forward.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Dan Berkovitz will depart from his role as general counsel on 31 January. Megan Barbero, currently SEC principal deputy general counsel, will be appointed general counsel upon Berkovitz’s departure. Prior to joining the SEC in 2021, Berkovitz served as a commissioner on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and as the CFTC's general counsel.
In other moves, the SEC has appointed Amanda Fischer, senior counselor to Chair Gary Gensler, as chief of staff following the announcement that Prashant Yerramalli was stepping down from the role. Fischer has worked as senior counselor to Gensler since 2021 and before joining the SEC served as policy director at the Washington Centre for Equitable Growth, a non-partisan research organization focused on economic policy.
The European Securities and Markets Authority has changed the structure of its standing committees and elected new chairs. They include Rodrigo Buenaventura, chair, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), Spain, who has been appointed chair of the Markets Standing Committee.
OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, has promoted two members of its executive leadership team. Dan Busby has been appointed chief operating officer, succeeding Scot Warren who previously announced his retirement, and Mike Hansen has been appointed chief clearing and settlement services officer. Busby, a 23-year veteran at OCC, was previously chief administrative officer. Hansen was previously managing director of clearing and settlement operations as well as head of OCC’s Dallas Office.
Jonathan Grodnick has been promoted to CEO of proprietary market-making firm Chicago Trading Company, taking over from Daniel Feuser, who will remain CTC’s board chair. Grodnick has been with CTC for more than 20 years and most recently served as chief investment officer.
BMLL, a provider of harmonized, historical Level 3 data and analytics, has appointed Rob Laible as head of Americas with plans to open a New York area-based office. Most recently Laible served as global head of equities at Liquidnet. He has also held senior positions at Macquarie Securities, Nomura, Lehman Brothers and ITG. At BMLL, Laible reports to CEO Paul Humphrey. In 2019, BMLL was part of the Innovators Pavilion, FIA’s annual showcase for fintech startups.
BNP Paribas has promoted Talat Sami to global head of derivatives execution, clearing and FXPB relationship management. Based in London, Sami was previously EMEA head of derivatives execution and clearing client solutions.
Citi has named 52 people in its trading unit to the role of managing director, including Thomas Treadwell, the EMEA head of futures, clearing and FX prime brokerage product.
The law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher has elected 18 new partners, including Benjamin Allensworth: Asset Management (Washington, D.C.), and Margo Bailey: Corporate & Financial Services (Washington, D.C.).
Alex Lamb has started a new position as head of the Americas at Scila, a provider of market surveillance and compliance technology. Lamb was previously head of business development at The Technancial Company and CEO of A4, a consulting firm. Previously, he was senior vice president for business development at RTS Realtime Systems Group.
London-based law firm Howard Kennedy has appointed Jonathan Huth as partner in the Business Crime practice. Huth joins Howard Kennedy from Kobre & Kim where he was an investigations partner. Prior to that, he was associate general counsel at HSBC Bank in London. He also spent over six years as senior trial attorney in the Division of Enforcement at the CFTC.
