Obituaries
It is with sadness that FIA reports the passing of Sir Brian Williamson, a monumental figure in the development and expansion of global futures markets. Sir Brian brought his experience of trading financial futures in Chicago during the 1970s to the original working team that led to the creation of Liffe in 1982, the first financial futures exchange in Europe.
He also founded GNI, a commodities brokerage, in the same year, becoming chairman of the firm and the exchange in 1985. Sir Brian served as chairman of Liffe for a second term from 1998 to 2003, overseeing the exchange’s transition from open outcry to electronic trading, and into a for-profit organisation owned by shareholders. He was knighted for his services to financial markets in 2000 and was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in 2007.
FIA is saddened to report the passing of Anne Bagan, who had a long-standing career at CME Group. Throughout her career, Anne’s wit and intelligence inspired many and contributed to her success at the exchange for 26 years. After retiring, she devoted her time to charitable causes, travelling and supporting those around her. Anne was preceded in death by her husband, futures industry veteran Mark Bagan.
FIA deeply regrets to report the passing of Gareth Roberts, who was head of sales at AMT Futures in London. He also served as head of the London office and EMEA head of sales at AP Capital/Mamoru, head of clearing strategy at ED&F Man Capital Markets, executive director in futures and options and OTC clearing sales at JP Morgan, and head of sales at GNI Limited.
Our thoughts are with their families, friends and everyone who had the privilege to work with them.
People news
CME Group has extended Terry Duffy's contract as the group’s chairman and chief executive officer to the end of 2026. The company also announced that Julie Holzrichter has decided to step down from her role as chief operating officer but will remain with the company as an advisor. Suzanne Sprague, CME’s global head of clearing, will succeed Holzrichter as COO while remaining head of clearing. Additionally, Lynne Fitzpatrick will take on the expanded role of president and chief financial officer.
With more than 30 years of service at CME, Holzrichter has held roles of increasing responsibility, rising through the company's ranks from market reporter to a senior member of the management team. She was instrumental in helping the company transition from open outcry to electronic trading as well as leading operational integrations resulting from mergers with the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and NEX.
Sprague, who has served as senior managing director and global head of clearing and post-trade services since 2022, joined CME Group in 2002. She has served in a range of leadership positions in financial and risk management since that time, including managing director, credit and liquidity risk, risk policy and banking.
Fitzpatrick, who has been CFO since 2023, joined the company in 2006. She previously served as senior managing director and deputy chief financial officer, managing director of corporate development and treasurer, and in several positions across the company's finance organization.
G.H. Financials, a global independent clearing firm for exchange-traded derivatives, has appointed David Martin as chief executive officer based in London. Martin joins following 27 years at JP Morgan where he held a range of senior roles in the bank's futures and options business. In 2014, Martin relocated to Singapore to manage the bank’s derivatives clearing business in Asia Pacific. He has also chaired FIA’s Asia Regional Advisory Board, contributing his extensive experience to regulatory and market discussions in the region. He assumes the role from interim chief executive Jerome Kemp, chair of GH Financials, who took on the position after Sharon Shi left earlier this year.
The European Energy Exchange has made changes to its management board to strengthen synergies between the customer-centred departments of EEX and European Commodity Clearing. Steffen Köhler, chief operating officer of EEX, will assume the newly created role of chief commercial officer, beginning 1 March 2025. His mandate as management board member has also been extended for a further five years. Götz Dittrich, COO of ECC, will additionally assume the COO position at EEX and join the EEX management board.
Dana Stopczynski has joined Nodal Clear, the clearinghouse of Nodal Exchange, as director of product management and clearing services. Stopczynski joins from ION, where she worked for 26 years, most recently as head of post-trade product for North America in the firm’s cleared derivatives division.
SGX FX, the over-the-counter foreign exchange division of Singapore Exchange, has appointed Hugh Whelan as head of liquidity management and data strategy, based in London. Whelan brings extensive experience in FX markets, having led the launch and strategic evolution of EBS Direct into a new bilateral FX trading venue, now owned by CME Group. Prior to joining EBS in 2013, Whelan spent more than eight years in the e-FX business at Dresdner/Commerzbank and before that was at Mizuho, Bayerische Landesbank and MUFG.
Michel Semaan has joined LCH as global head of RepoClear, reporting to Corentine Poilvet-Clédière, CEO of LCH SA, and Isabelle Girolami, CEO of LCH Ltd. Semaan brings over 25 years of experience in repo markets and global financial markets. Most recently, he served as the global head of securities financing at BBVA.
Trish Foshée, the president and CEO of the Institute for Financial Markets (IFM), an affiliate of FIA, has announced her retirement at the end of 2024. IFM is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to increase public awareness and understanding of the derivatives markets to the global economy. Foshée has led the IFM for nearly 17 years and held successive positions within the organization for more than seven years before that.
“For more than two decades, Trish has brought her knowledge, experience and passion for educating about the cleared derivatives industry to the IFM. Thousands within our industry have benefited from her stewardship of the IFM, including myself, and we are eternally grateful for her many years of service,” said FIA president and CEO Walt Lukken.
The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has announced the appointment of Rodrigo Buenaventura as its next secretary general. Buenaventura has been appointed for a three-year renewable term and will take up his position at IOSCO in the coming weeks, after the finalization of his current mandate as chair of the Spanish Securities and Markets Commission (CNMV). Tajinder Singh will continue to serve the IOSCO secretariat as deputy secretary general.
The Bank for International Settlements has appointed Pablo Hernández de Cos as its next general manager. His appointment will take effect on 1 July 2025 and is for a five-year term. Hernández de Cos was previously governor of the Bank of Spain, a position he held from 2018 until June 2024. He will take over the position of BIS general manager from Agustín Carstens, whose term concludes at the end of June 2025.
The Hong Kong government has named Kelvin Wong as the new chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission for a three-year term, succeeding Tim Lui who completed six years as chairman. Wong is chairman of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC), a role he will keep on until 31 December. He was a non-executive director of the SFC from 2012 to 2018.
Gurbir Grewal, the outgoing director of enforcement at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has joined the law firm of Milbank in New York as a partner and member of the firm’s litigation and arbitration group. Grewal’s career includes serving as attorney general of New Jersey, as well as positions as a prosecutor in both the Eastern District of New York and New Jersey. During his three-year tenure at the SEC, the commission brought over 2,400 enforcement actions, resulting in orders for more than $20 billion in financial remedies.
The London Stock Exchange Group has appointed Natalee Binkholder as head of government relations and regulatory strategy for the Americas. Binkholder was previously senior vice president of government relations and public policy at Santander US, and before that served as chief of staff for former Republican Member of Congress Mick Mulvaney.
JP Morgan has appointed Eli Peterson as head of global regulatory affairs, based in Washington, D.C. Peterson previously worked at TransUnion, a US-based credit reporting firm, where he was deputy general counsel and global head of corporate affairs. Before that he worked at BNY Mellon where he ran the bank's global regulatory policy and government affairs group and led the bank’s engagements with regulators following the financial crisis.
Nahiomy Alvarez, a financial markets analyst who previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Cboe Global Markets, has joined the US Treasury Department in Washington as a senior advisor for debt strategy and policy. She spent five years at the Chicago Fed, working in the financial markets group in the analysis of market developments with implications for financial stability. She joined Cboe in April 2023 as a senior manager for markets policy, analysing regulatory and legislative proposals that affected the exchange.
Michael Lukso, formerly vice president of government affairs at the American Investment Council, has joined Kraken Digital Assets Exchange’s government relations team as director for the Americas. Lukso, based in Washington D.C., will focus on advancing Kraken’s regulatory engagement.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has made two appointments to its senior executive leadership team. Peter Soros has been appointed executive director, regulation and supervision. Soros joins ASIC from the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), where he was the deputy CEO, regulation for six years. Last year, he was also acting CEO for an eight-month period. Chris Savundra assumes the role of executive director, enforcement and compliance having previously been the ASIC general counsel and executive director, legal services. Before joining ASIC, Savundra worked in the litigation group of Allens in Perth and Herbert Smith in London.
Key-Yong Tee has joined Australian Stock Exchange as program director, clearing risk. He previously worked at Barclays Investment Bank in several positions, including head of central counterparty risk management, EMEA & North America. Most recently he was a credit risk specialist at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
Clear Street, a financial technology and brokerage company, has appointed Eunice Pareja as managing director, clearing operations. Pareja was previously at ABN Amro Clearing USA, where she was vice president, strategic products and services.
Linda Haven, BMO Bank’s managing director, financial institutions, will retire on 31 January 2025 after a 38-year career at the bank. Based in Chicago, Haven is responsible for the commercial banking segment focused on clearinghouses, broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, asset managers and fund of funds managers. Haven is also a member of FIA’s Operations Americas Division and serves as its communications director.
David Best has joined TRAFiX as futures and options product manager with a remit to drive product expansion into global futures and options. David joins from UBS where he was initiative manager for agency trading focused on the global ETD execution product. Best held multiple roles at UBS after joining in 2006 with the UBS purchase of ABN AMRO Futures where he was business systems manager. TRAFiX is a broker-neutral financial technology services company that builds and implements equity and options trading applications for the global financial services ecosystem.
BlockFills, a digital assets technology and trading firm, has made two senior appointments: Amy Shelly has been appointed chief financial officer and Neil Van Huis has been promoted to chief strategy officer. Shelly joins from the Options Clearing Corporation, where she served as CFO for six years. Prior to that, she was responsible for managing financial risks at global market maker Optiver U.S. Van Huis has been a director of BlockFills since its 2018 inception. Before that, he held various roles in electronic derivatives trading at firms including Transmarket Group.
Zishi, a financial services education and training firm, has appointed Danny Langley as CEO. Langley, a co-founder of both derivatives trading company OSTC and ZISHI, was previously chief commercial officer at ZISHI tasked with expanding the reach and enhancing service offerings. He succeeds Chris Jenkins, who is joining the Saudi Arabian exchange group Tadawul Group to work with his former boss Lee Hodgkinson.
NinjaTrader has appointed industry veteran and former CME floor trader Anthony Crudele as senior vice president of NinjaTrader Live, as the firm looks to drive education within the sector. Crudele, a pioneer of the futures trading podcast space, brings 29 years of experience to his new role.
OptAxe, a fully regulated, centralised trading venue for liquidity discovery, has appointed Chris Smith as chief business development officer. Smith previously held senior roles in FX sales at Commonwealth Bank and Deutsche Bank.
Lisa Avellini has joined CoinShares, the European investment firm specialising in digital assets, as group general counsel. Avellini previously oversaw legal and compliance requirements for Balyasny Asset Management's credit division in London.
Chris Lee has been appointed chief commercial officer at Bilby.ai, after previously serving as managing director and head of markets at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing for eight years. Bilby.ai is an AI company that uses machine learning to automate regulatory and governmental analysis, and to predict future actions.
