Obituary
Roberta Karmel, a trailblazer for women in the legal profession and the first woman to serve as commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has died at the age of 86. Karmel was a leading authority in domestic and international securities regulations and a longtime educator. She began her career right out of law school as an enforcement attorney, then assistant regional administrator at the SEC before moving into private practice, joining Willkie, Farr & Gallagher as an associate. In 1972, she moved to Wall Street law firm Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and became one of its first female partners. She later became the first woman nominated to the role of SEC commissioner by President Jimmy Carter. After being confirmed, Karmel made history when she joined the leadership at the agency from 1977 to 1980.
Other key national roles followed her tenure at the SEC. She was a public director of the New York Stock Exchange from 1983 to 1989, during which time the exchange experienced the market crash of 1987. She was the chair emerita of the board of trustees of the Practicing Law Institute, a member of the American Law Institute, and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Karmel also served as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School during the 1970s and 1980s, becoming a full-time faculty member in 1985. She retired from Brooklyn Law School in 2021 after 36 years of teaching. Karmel was known for her engaging teaching style and as a faculty mentor, especially for female professors.
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Michel Everaert, head of EMEA at CME Group, has left the company after two years in the role. Serge Marston, CME Group’s head of sales for EMEA, is assuming Everaert’s duties on an interim basis. London-based Everaert was promoted to managing director and head of EMEA in 2022 after running client development and sales in the region. He joined CME Group in 2011 from IMEX Group where he was the chief information officer. Before that, he worked at interdealer broker GFI for seven years as chief information officer for eCommerce. He also worked in electronic trading services at Dow Jones Telerate for six years.
Miami International Holdings has announced that Troy Kane has joined the company as president of Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) and CEO of MIAX Futures, a newly formed company that will manage the futures businesses of MIH. Kane joins from Citadel Securities where he served as chief operating officer, counterparty strategy and global head of derivatives and FICC development. Before Citadel Securities, Kane was senior director, head of strategy for financial and OTC products at CME Group, which he rejoined in 2017. He has also worked at BGC Partners, Eagle Seven, and CME Group. He began his career as a floor clerk at Kane Trading in the grain and oilseed pits at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Nicholas Kennedy has left Euronext where he was head of commodities. He has been succeeded by Robin Maisonneuve, who took up the role of head of agricultural commodities on 1 April after joining Euronext last year as chief of staff to the CEO and head of special projects. Kennedy took charge of Euronext's commodity business, whose flagship product is its wheat futures contract, in late 2017 after spending several years in the division. Before joining Euronext, Maisonneuve was a consultant and manager at McKinsey & Company and also worked at artificial intelligence startup Preligens.
Frank Soussan, the global head of LCH's CDSClear and DigitalAssetClear services and the head of EquityClear and CommodityClear at LCH SA, the group's Paris branch, has left the firm. A LCH spokesperson says the group has not named a replacement yet.
Broadridge Financial Solutions has appointed Frank Troise as president of Broadridge Trading & Connectivity Solutions and vice chairman of Broadridge Capital Markets, effective 29 April. Troise succeeds Ray Tierney, who will serve in an advisory capacity, following a three-year tenure. Troise was most recently co-chief executive officer and board member at Pico Quantitative Trading. Prior to Pico, he was chief executive and president of Investment Technology Group and held senior sales and trading roles at J.P. Morgan, Barclays and Lehman Brothers.
In other moves, Broadridge Financial Solutions has appointed Hope Jarkowski as chief legal officer, effective 6 May. Jarkowski replaces Keir Gumbs, who held the role until November 2023. Jarkowski joins Broadridge from the New York Stock Exchange, where she most recently served as general counsel. Prior to this, she served as head of equities for the NYSE. Previously she served as co-head of regulatory affairs for NYSE's parent, Intercontinental Exchange. Earlier, she held positions with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as senior counsel to Commissioner Troy Paredes and as senior securities counsel to the US Senate Banking Committee.
TP ICAP-owned Liquidnet has hired Alex Grinfeld as co-head of its Americas futures division, working alongside Brian Cashin who joined Liquidnet in March 2022 from Bank of America. Grinfeld joins from Morgan Stanley, where he worked for 11 years, most recently as executive director and co-head of cross-asset futures execution for the Americas. Before Morgan Stanley, he was a vice president at Goldman Sachs in futures and derivatives sales and trading. The appointments in the US follow similar moves in Europe, where the firm hired Dan Noorian and Darren Smith from UBS 18 months ago to lead the group's listed derivatives team in London.
TP ICAP-owned Tullett Prebon has launched a new battery metals desk in London and Singapore. The new team will be led by Jack Nathan, previously head of battery metals at Freight Investor Services (FIS). He will be supported by Po Wei in Singapore. Wei was previously head of Asia materials at JP Morgan. "With demand for electric vehicles fluctuating, and the production of battery metals rising rapidly, clients have a growing need to manage price risk and exposure," the broker said.
In other metals-related news, energy trader Vitol reportedly has hired Benjamin Seaford and William Gayner to trade metals. Seaford and Gayner were previously co-heads of Mercuria's metals unit where they traded mostly aluminium.
Patricia Hergenrother has been promoted to director - Americas head of listed derivatives, FX and FXPB operations at Deutsche Bank, based in Chicago. She was previously vice president – Americas head of operations at the bank. She also is an active member of FIA's Operations Americas Division and serves on the division's executive committee.
Susan Yavari has been promoted to deputy director for capital markets and digital topics at the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA). A frequent speaker at FIA forums and conferences, Yavari was previously senior regulatory policy advisor - capital markets at the industry association.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has appointed Christopher Skinner as inspector general. Skinner joins the CFTC from the Federal Election Commission where he served as inspector general for five years. Before that, he spent six years as deputy inspector general for the Office of Naval Research, including a year as acting inspector general.
Clemens Völkert, chief risk officer of European Commodity Clearing, has left the company for personal reasons. He had been CRO of ECC since July 2021. The Supervisory Board intends to appoint Ralf Prinzler, currently head of risk controlling at KfW, as his successor. Prinzler will join the company as director, risk management on 1 July. His appointment as CRO is subject to regulatory requirements as well as the approval or non-objection of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and is targeted for 1 January 2025. Until the appointment of the new CRO, the duties of this role will be taken over by Tobias Paulun, CEO of ECC.
Matthias Ludwig has joined French broker Aurel BGC as head of derivatives brokerage, based in Frankfurt. He was previously a manager, derivatives brokerage at Steubing AG.
