China has named Li Ming as vice chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the country’s markets regulator. Li replaces Fang Xinghai, who turned 60 in May, the typical retirement age for vice ministerial-level officials. Li previously oversaw the CSRC’s law enforcement department. Fang, a long-time advocate for open capital markets, joined the CSRC in 2015 as vice chairman after holding various roles at institutions including China Construction Bank Corp. and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Clearing firm G.H. Financials has appointed Raymond Wong as managing director of G.H. Financials (Hong Kong), effective 2 September. Wong will relocate to Hong Kong from London to lead the firm’s development in the Asia Pacific region. He joins GHF following eight years with Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing, where he most recently served as head of EMEA business development. Prior to joining HKEX, Wong worked as an equity derivatives broker at Qantex Capital Markets and Vantage Capital Markets.
HKEX has appointed Vicky Chan as managing director, head of post trade. She reports to Vanessa Lau, HKEX’s co-chief operating officer and group chief financial officer, and succeeds Hector Lau, who decided to explore opportunities outside the group. Chan spent 15 years with HKEX in various teams including cash settlement, clearing operations and platform development before leaving in 2017 to relocate to Canada with her family. She previously held roles with AIA Group, Goldman Sachs, UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers and was an advisor at several Canadian and international companies.
Law firm Dentons has appointed Mark Wetjen, a former member of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as a partner in its federal regulatory and compliance practice in Washington, DC. He also has held leadership positions at several financial institutions including chief executive of the futures division of the Miami International Group and head of global policy at the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. Most recently he was a senior advisor at Patomak Global Partners, a financial services consultancy.
Sean Smith has joined Fenics Market Data, the market data distribution arm of BGC Group, as a managing director of business development in Chicago. He will focus on expanding the use of the company’s data in indices and benchmarks, with a particular focus on derivatives. Smith previously worked at Qontigo, the division of Deutsche Boerse that manages the group’s index business, as managing director and head of derivatives licensing. Before that, he held a similar role at FTSE Russell. Earlier in his career, he worked at CME Group in several client-facing roles. He began his career at O'Connor & Associates.
Alex Shterenberg has joined Fenics Markets Exchange, BGC Group’s electronic rates and foreign exchange trading platforms group, in a senior managing director role. He was most recently global head of G10 and emerging markets eFX trading at Barclays in New York.
Broadridge Financial Solutions has appointed David Runacres as president of Asia Pacific, based in Tokyo. He will also assume the role of senior country officer, Japan. Runacres joins the company from the London Stock Exchange Group, where he spent 12 years as head of Japan. Prior to LSEG, he held sales roles at SunGard Systems and Thomson Financial.
Bill Spencer has joined MarketAxess as head of client solutions, a newly created role. He joins from UBS Asset Management, where he was most recently executive director for multi-asset centralised trading.
Sterling Trading Tech, a Chicago-based provider of trading technology, has appointed Vedant Gaur as sales director. Gaur will focus on the firm's proprietary order management system and risk and margin offerings. Gaur previously worked at Barclays for 10 years, most recently as senior vice president in New York with responsibility for sales of futures algo trading solutions.
The law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman has appointed Matthew Kluchenek as partner in its financial markets litigation and enforcement practice in Chicago. Previously he was a partner at Baker McKenzie where he counselled fund sponsors and managers, trading firms, corporations, banks and financial service technology providers on a range of transactional and enforcement matters.
Eurex has appointed Elina Lehtonen as vice president for fixed income derivatives and repo sales. Based in Paris, she reports to Katja Renner, executive director of funding and financing sales, and Frank Gast, global head of repo sales and member of the management board of Eurex Repo. Lehtonen joins from Santander Corporate and Investment Banking where she was associate of credit flow sales for the Nordics and Netherlands and global markets.
In Memoriam ... Dennis Murray passed away on 18 August 2024. An ardent advocate of the industry and 2005 inductee into FIA's Hall of Fame, Murray was a long-time member of the Operations America Division, including serving as president 1992 to 1995. He was best known for his extensive knowledge of the business, his commitment to industry initiatives and his willingness to help colleagues. Read more about his life and career on FIA's Hall of Fame page and in his obituary.
