People moves: LME chair quits, Goldman and BlackRock lay-offs, and more

Latest job changes across the industry

Gay Huey Evans is stepping down as chair of the London Metal Exchange, while the embattled exchange continues to struggle in the wake of last year’s nickel market fiasco.

Gay Huey Evans

The announcement came just days before the publication of a highly critical independent report, commissioned by the exchange and produced by consultancy Oliver Wyman, that found the LME failed to maintain the oversight and tools needed to handle market dislocations. Last year, the exchange’s chief executive officer (CEO), Matthew Chamberlain, argued that the decision to suspend the market and cancel trades could have averted “multiple defaults”.

Huey Evans will remain in post until a new chair is appointed, and, after a transition period, will become a senior adviser to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s commodities business, which owns LME. The search for a new chair is ongoing.

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Goldman Sachs began a sweeping round of job cuts this month, with around 3,200 people expected to be laid off globally, confirms a spokesperson for the investment bank.

The cuts come as economic turbulence and rising interest rates sapped dealmaking. For example, the total value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worldwide declined 38% in 2022 compared with the previous year, according to Refinitiv. Global initial public offering (IPO) issuance plummeted last year to just $8.4 billion – a 94% decline year on year – according to the US’s Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Slashing staff numbers marks a sharp change of course for the bank, which has continually grown its workforce over several years. As of September 2022, its headcount stood at 49,100 – a 38% increase since the bank began its hiring spree in mid-2019.

The lay-offs are not limited to a particular section of the bank, and are taking place across a range of geographies, the spokesperson tells Risk.net. The bank has declined to comment on whether any senior members of staff are leaving.

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Chris Concannon has been promoted to CEO of fixed income trading platform MarketAxess, effective April 3, 2023.

Chris Concannon

Since joining MarketAxess in 2019, he has served as president and chief operating officer. Prior to that, Concannon served as president and CEO of Cboe Global Markets following the company’s acquisition of Bats Global Markets in 2017, where he had served as CEO since 2015. Concannon will continue his role as a director on the company’s board. The company’s current chairman, CEO and founder, Richard McVey, will take on the role of executive chairman.

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BlackRock is also embarking on a round of job cuts after a dismal year for markets. The world’s largest asset manager is due to lay off around 500 staff, or 2.5% of the investment house’s total workforce.

The reports come as BlackRock announces its 2022 earnings results, which show that revenue fell by 8% last year, largely due to “significantly lower markets, and dollar appreciation on average AUM [assets under management] and lower performance fees”. Average full-year AUM stood at $8.9 trillion at year-end, a 4% decline year on year.

The job cuts were first reported by Business Insider.

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Cathal Deasy, co-head of investment banking and capital markets at Credit Suisse, is leaving the Swiss bank – just three months after being promoted to the role. He joined Credit Suisse in 2016, previously led its European M&A business.

In an internal memo seen by Risk.net and confirmed by a spokesperson, CEO David Wah announced that Giuseppe Monarchi, who served as co-head of the division alongside Deasy, will now assume sole responsibility for the division. Monarchi has spent 30 years at the bank in a variety of capital market roles.

The memo also noted that New York-based Steven Geller, who joined the bank in 1994, has been appointed sole head of global Investment Banking & Capital Markets M&A, while William Mansfield – who reports to Geller and Monarchi – has been appointed head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea) M&A.

The investment bank has seen several senior executives leave, including chief financial officer (CFO) David Mathers, since the collapse of Archegos in 2020.

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Flavio Figueiredo has been named global head of corporate sales and solutions at Citi, effective immediately. This is an expansion of his previous role as global head of rates and currencies, corporate sales and solutions. Based in New York, Figueiredo will work with the firm’s corporate and public-sector clients across all market products. Steve Roti, head of strategic equity solutions, along with Ron Ruffini and Yoven Moorooven, co-heads of commodities corporate sales and structuring, will report to Figueiredo.

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Dennis Dijkstra will step down as CEO of Dutch market-maker Flow Traders at the start of February, but will remain at the firm in an advisory role until April.

On joining the firm in 2009, Dijkstra served as CFO until being promoted to CEO five years later. He oversaw Flow Traders’ IPO in 2015, after which he also held a seat on the management board. Under Dijkstra’s leadership, the company began to trade cryptocurrencies in 2017.

The current CFO, Mike Kuehnel, will take on the role of CEO on February 1. He joined the firm in 2021, prior to which he was a partner at management consultancy Bain & Company. Kuehnel previously served as an executive director at Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division.

Matt O’Neill

Matt O’Neill relocated from Hong Kong to Amsterdam to join Flow Traders as global head of corporate strategy in December 2022. His primary areas of coverage include prime brokerage strategy, investor relations, M&A and the firm’s venture capital unit, Flow Traders Capital. Prior to joining Flow Traders, O’Neill spent 18 years working in a range of roles at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

The company is looking to hire a new chief risk and financial officer.

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Lauren Anderson is joining JP Morgan as head of Emea government affairs later this month, and will report to Clay Berry, head of global engagement and international government relations. Before joining the bank, she worked for the Bank Policy Institute as vice-president and senior associate general counsel for regulatory affairs. Prior to this, Anderson worked at the Bank of England as both a senior policy adviser and head of European withdrawal, guiding the bank’s policy and prudential oversight on Brexit.

The role of head of Emea government affairs at JP Morgan was left vacant in November 2022 when Marc Rothemund left to take an equivalent position at Goldman Sachs.

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Christophe Gantenbein joined Geneva-headquartered private bank and wealth management firm UBP this month as senior managing director and global head of private markets institutional solutions. Zurich-based Gantenbein started in the role on January 1, reporting to Nicolas Faller, co-CEO of asset management.

Prior to joining UBP, Gantenbein headed up client solutions at private equity firm Partners Group, where he was responsible for a $1.5 billion private credit fund.