People: All shook up at the SEC, Krens succeeds Litvack at Isda, and more

Latest job changes across the industry

Photo: SEC

Gary Gensler

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is in for a shakeup in the new year with the incoming Trump administration. On November 21, chair Gary Gensler announced he was stepping down effective January 20, 2025. SEC commissioner Jaime Lizárraga will also depart, effective January 17, while Caroline Crenshaw’s renomination has been cancelled after being delayed on December 11. The vote, which was rescheduled for December 18, was called off after co-ordinated lobbying from the crypto industry, of which Crenshaw is an overt critic.

Paul Atkins has been nominated to take Gensler’s position as chair, subject to Senate approval. Atkins previously served as a commissioner between 2002 and 2008. He is currently chief executive officer of risk management and compliance consultancy Patomak Global Partners. Successors to Crenshaw and Lizárraga have yet to be nominated, but because of the rule that no one party can hold more than three of the five seats, conventionally, they would be replaced by Democrats.

Erik Gerding, director of the SEC’s corporation finance division, is also stepping down on December 31, to be replaced as acting head by Cicely LaMothe. Gerding had served as director since February 2023 and before that as deputy director since October 2021. LaMothe is currently deputy director covering disclosure operations.

This follows Haoxiang Zhu’s departure from the trading and markets division on December 10 after three years at the SEC. He has been replaced as director on an interim basis by David Saltiel, who currently heads the division’s analytics and research as a deputy director, a position he has held since November 2021.

Elsewhere in US governmental appointments, Frank Bisignano has been nominated as commissioner at the Social Security Administration. Bisignano is currently Chairman and CEO at Fiserv, in which role he will continue until his nomination is confirmed.

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Jeroen Krens

Eric Litvack, chair of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, has stepped down after a record ten years at the helm. He will continue to serve as a member of the Isda board, representing Societe Generale, where he is group director of public affairs. He was elected to a continuing term at the group’s annual general meeting in April. Jeroen Krens, chief operating officer of markets and securities services at HSBC, has been appointed as his successor and will take up the role on January 1. Krens served on the Isda board from 2012 to 2014 and again from 2016 onwards.

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Isabelle Girolami, CEO of LCH Ltd, is leaving her role at the clearing house, as previously reported on Risk.net. She will join NatWest as head of corporate and institutional banking in spring 2025.

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A brace of bank chief risk officers was appointed in December. BNY Mellon brought in Rajashree Datta to become deputy chief risk officer, effective December 15, and will take over from current CRO Senthil Kumar in 2025 after a transition period. Datta was most recently head of financial risk at Goldman Sachs, where she had worked since 2000. In her new role she will report to CEO Robin Vince and be a member of BNY Mellon’s executive committee.

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Meanwhile, China Merchants Bank has received approval for the appointment of Zhong Desheng as CRO, effective December 6, replacing Zhu Jiangtao, who remains an executive director.

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Richard Blackburn

HSBC has made a slew of promotions, set to take effect on January 1. Richard Blackburn will become interim chief risk and compliance officer, having previously overseen traded and treasury risk management and global analytics. Blackburn will report to new CEO Georges Elhedery, who joined in September.

Julian Wentzel will become chief sustainability officer on an interim basis, taking over from Celine Herweijer who is stepping down to pursue new opportunities. Wentzel currently heads global banking for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. In his new role he will report to chief financial officer Pam Kaur. Selim Kervanci will become CEO for the Middle East region, reporting to co-CEOs for Asia and the Middle East, Surendra Rosha and David Liao.

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SIX has appointed Bjorn Sibbern as its new CEO, a year after his appointment as global head of exchanges. He replaces Jos Dijsselhof, who is stepping down after seven years at the helm to pursue a new professional opportunity in the Middle East. Sibbern will take up the role on January 1, after a transition period in which Dijsselhof will remain at SIX until the end of February.

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Valérie Charrière-Pousse will take over BNP Paribas Asset Management’s European large cap equities team on May 1. She has been deputy head of the unit since 2023 and has led the Paris-based team since 2016. Current head Peter Abbott will retire in April 2025 after 17 years at BNPPAM.

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The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has appointed Michael Winnike as managing director of clearing and securities services (CSS). In this newly created role he will report to Brian Steele, president of CSS. Winnike comes from BlackRock where he was director of market structure. He began his role on December 2.

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Fellow BlackRock alum Kate Moore has left her role as a portfolio manager at the investment company to take up the position of chief investment officer at Citi Wealth.

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Mitchell Nadel

Mitchell Nadel has joined Lloyds North America as head of financial markets. Based in New York, he will report to head of financial markets Rob Hale and head of North America William Mansfield. Nadel was most recently chief risk officer at 677 Financial Group. He started his role on December 2, replacing Kristan Gochee.

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John Robbins has been appointed chief compliance officer at RJ O’Brien, having most recently held the same role at Apex Fintech Solutions. Robbins will be based in New York and will report to general counsel Melissa Zierk.

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Tony Acuña-Rohter

Tony Acuña-Rohter becomes CEO of cryptocurrency exchange EDX, having previously held the role of chief technology officer there. He replaces Jamil Nazarali, who is moving into the more advisory role of executive chair of the EDX board, having led EDX through its start-up phase. Acuña-Rohter also leads EDX’s central clearinghouse, EDX Clearing. He is based in Chicago.

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Broadridge has appointed Ashima Ghei as chief financial officer, after holding the role on an interim basis since July 1. She was previously CFO of the fintech’s investor communications business. Ghei joined the firm in January 2022, reporting to CEO Tim Gokey. She is based in New York.

Broadridge has also promoted Stephanie Clarke to lead international strategy and corporate development, leaving her previous role of senior vice president of data and analytics. She will report to Mike Sleightholme, CEO of Broadridge International, and will be based in London.

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Paul Chow

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has appointed Paul Chow as chief sustainability officer, a role he will hold alongside his current position as general counsel. He will take up the newly formed position, based in Hong Kong, on January 1 and will continue to report to CEO Bonnie Chan.

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Risk management consultancy 4most has appointed Matthew Hubbard as head of portfolio management, where his purview will include credit risk, collections and exposure management. Hubbard was most recently a senior managing consultant at MasterCard. His appointment follows the recent hires of Philippa Milner-Jones and Richard Whiting.

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Niels Brab

Industry body the Federation of European Securities Exchanges has elected a new president. Niels Brab, chief of staff at Deutsche Börse, has been a member of FESE’s board since 2014. Euronext’s Delphine d’Armazit has also been elected vice president. Both are set to serve two-year terms. Outgoing president Petr Koblic of the Prague Stock Exchange was re-elected to a three-year term on the Board.

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Darren Pain

Insurance think tank the Geneva Association has promoted two of its directors effective January 1. Darren Pain will become director of research, having previously focused on evolving liability since 2021 and cyber research since 2022. He succeeds Kai-Uwe Schanz. Dennis Noordheok will become director in the newly created role of external stakeholder engagement, moving from the public policy and regulation field. Both appointees will report to managing director Jad Ariss and will be based in Zurich, where the Geneva Association has been located for the past decade.