ION’s Rich Grossi takes helm as CEO of EquiLend
EquiLend announced the appointment of Rich Grossi as its new chief executive officer. He brings a wealth of experience in fintech, operational excellence, and strategic leadership, positioning EquiLend to accelerate its growth and innovation within the securities finance market.
“I’m honored to join EquiLend at such a pivotal time for both the company and the securities finance industry,” Grossi said in a statement. “EquiLend’s unique technology platform and differentiated suite of solutions enable a level of transparency, automation, and efficiency that is unmatched in the market. I look forward to working closely with the team to build on this foundation and help clients gain even more value from our solutions.”
Ryan Harper, general partner at WCAS, said in a statement: “Rich’s deep expertise in trading, treasury, and risk management software, along with his successful track record of leading and growing companies in the fintech space, make him the ideal leader to take EquiLend into its next phase of growth.”
Most recently, Grossi served as the CEO of ION Corporates, a suite of trading, risk management, and workflow automation solutions. During his tenure, he led ION to become the leader in treasury and commodity management, consolidating several acquisitions, innovating the product suite, and delivering growth for the business across their expansive customer base of corporations, banks, and financial institutions.
Prior to leading ION Corporates, Grossi held various leadership positions at OpenLink, where he served in a variety of C-suite roles as well as executive president of Global Operations. Grossi’s transition across a number of senior leadership roles throughout his career punctuates his product, operational, financial and customer experience.
Paul Nigrelli, chief financial officer at EquiLend, said in a statement: “His deep product expertise and customer-focused mindset will be transformative for EquiLend as we drive further automation of the securities finance industry. Rich’s experience and leadership will enable us to build on our more than 20-year legacy of delivering cutting-edge solutions that redefine market efficiency and connectivity.”
With the backing of WCAS and its strategic shareholders — including Bank of America, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, National Bank of Canada, State Street, and UBS — EquiLend is positioned to accelerate its growth and enhance its suite of technology solutions.
OCC adds Keller and West as Board members
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) announced the addition of two members to its board of directors: public director Rachelle Keller, former financial executive, and exchange director Mike West, head of Operations at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Keller has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and has held leadership positions across a diverse product set including investment banking, markets and trading, operating services and institutional brokerage. In addition to senior roles at Citibank, Keller held senior roles at other market-leading firms, including chief financial officer of Treasury and Securities Services at J.P. Morgan.
West has more than 30 years of experience in US equities operations and trading systems. In his current role, West leads business operations for the NYSE’s five equity and two options exchanges, in addition to the Global OTC, NYSE Bonds, FINRA-NYSE Trade Reporting Facility and Security Information Processor products. West was previously a member of the US Options team at the NYSE focusing on product development and strategy. Prior to the NYSE, West also held leadership positions at Pershing and The Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
“With their decades of operations experience in financial services, we are pleased to welcome Rachelle and Mike to our board of directors,” said Craig Donohue, OCC chair, in a statement. “The addition of these two industry leaders complements our mission to promote stability and market integrity through effective and efficient clearance, settlement and risk management services.”
HSBC promotes Pam Kaur to Group CFO
HSBC announced the appointment of Pam Kaur as Group chief financial officer (GCFO) and an executive director of the Board of Directors. Kaur joined the Group in April 2013 as Group head of Audit and is currently Group chief risk and compliance officer (GCRCO).
Kaur has almost 40 years’ experience having worked in the UK and the US for British, American and German Banks. A qualified chartered accountant, Pam has strong technical knowledge and experience in treasury, capital, balance sheet and risk management. She has served on the Group Executive Committee for over a decade and brings a global perspective and an appreciation of the strategic challenges and opportunities, locally and globally, facing the banking industry in general and HSBC in particular.
Jon Bingham, interim GCFO, will resume his role of Global financial controller. An update is coming to announce Kaur’s successor.
Mark Tucker, HSBC Group chair, said in a statement: “I would like to congratulate Pam on her appointment as GCFO. She is highly respected and well known to the Board and was the unanimous choice. I wish Pam every success in her new role and thank Jon for his excellent support as interim GCFO.”
HSBC Group chief exec, Georges Elhedery, said in a statement: “We had a strong bench of internal and external candidates to choose from and Pam was the exceptional candidate to recommend to the Board. I look forward to partnering with her for the next stage of the Bank’s growth and development. I would also like to thank Jon for his outstanding support during the interim period.”
Philadelphia Fed’s Harker to retire
President of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, Patrick Harker, will be retiring at the end of June 2025.
“I must recognize and thank President Harker for his forward-looking leadership. The Third District and the Federal Reserve System are both better for his service,” said Michelle Bowman, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in remarks at a recent conference.
She described Harker as an “accidental economist” and an “engineer first”, coming to the field of economics through an engineering issue that required economics to solve.
“As someone who has sat at the Federal Open Market Committee conference table with President Harker for the past six years, I can attest to this approach-he enlists this engineering perspective to assist in understanding economic issues,” she said in the speech.
Through his leadership, the Philadelphia Fed has built strong partnerships with communities throughout the Third District. It was also under his leadership that the Philadelphia Fed’s Consumer Finance Institute took its current shape. Today, the Institute’s multidisciplinary approach to issues-bringing together economists, industry and regulatory experts, and community development specialists-is redefining our understanding of consumer credit and payments.
“He has positioned the Philadelphia Fed as a true thought leader in technology and innovation, and in the application of both hard and soft data,” Bowman said.
Saugata Saha to lead S&P Global Market Intelligence as new CEO takes helm
S&P Global announced the executive leadership team that will report to Martina Cheung when she becomes president and CEO on November 1.
Among the appointments, S&P Global Market Intelligence will be led by Saugata Saha, who currently serves as president of S&P Global Commodity Insights. Saha will replace current S&P Global Market Intelligence president, Adam Kansler, who will stay with the company through March 2025 as a special advisor.
Saha will take on a dual role, in addition to leading S&P Global Market Intelligence, as the Company’s chief enterprise data officer. He will lead enterprise-wide efforts to expand and connect S&P Global’s vast data estate, harnessing the full potential of the Company’s data capabilities for its customers.
In his role as president of Commodity Insights, Saugata orchestrated a transformation of the business post-merger with IHS Markit and growing annual revenue by 10% since the merger. In prior roles at the company, he was the chief financial officer for S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts.
Prior to joining S&P Global, Saha was a consultant at McKinsey & Co.’s New York office, where he led client engagements focused on strategy, M&A and corporate finance, and on improving operations across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on financial services.
Incoming chief financial officer, Eric Aboaf, upon joining the Company in February of 2025, will assume the additional responsibilities of leading Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Ventures and Corporate Responsibility disclosures, along with his previously announced remit leading the Finance organization.
Steve Kemps, chief legal officer, currently leading Legal, Government Affairs and Security, will take on an expanded role to also oversee the Company’s Corporate Compliance and Risk functions.
Swamy Kocherlakota will continue in his role as chief digital solutions officer, leading Technology, Enterprise AI strategy and Kensho.
Cheung said in a statement: “I am excited to work with this experienced and diverse leadership team. Together, we will guide S&P Global into the future and realize the full potential of the Company, driving value for our shareholders, customers and people.”
BTG’s Blake joins Liquidnet as head of Latin America
Liquidnet announced the appointment of Eric Blake as head of Latin America. In this role, Blake will be responsible for expanding Liquidnet’s business in the region, with an immediate focus on identifying new sources of actionable liquidity and delivering tailored technology solutions to both local and international asset managers. Based in New York, he will report directly to Alan Polo, head of Equities Sales and Trading, Americas.
Blake brings over 25 years of experience across both domestic and international capital markets to the role. Most recently he served as head of Electronic Trading at BTG Pactual, a local Brazilian investment bank, where he was responsible for the strategic deployment of BTG’s electronic execution products and the creation of the first electronic block trading facility in Brazil uniting both local Brazilian and foreign institutional clients for systematic trading. Prior to BTG, he spent 12 years at Investment Technology Group (ITG) as managing director holding various leadership positions, including for the Global Portfolio Trading unit and in the context of the firms’ expansion into Latin America.
Polo said in a statement: “Our commitment to helping institutional investors achieve better outcomes through deeper liquidity pools and broader global opportunities is central to our strategy. Eric’s addition to our team marks a significant step in advancing our capabilities in Latin America. His experience in the region and his proven track record of building institutional client relationships and product management implementation across sales and trading, marketing and financial services technology position us well to drive our growth in this critical market.”
Blake said in a statement: “Sources of liquidity in Latin America can be limited, making the block liquidity and price discovery process challenging for asset managers. Liquidnet’s global network of over 1,000 institutional clients and innovative technology position us well to help our clients navigate these challenges and unlock new sources of liquidity in this region. Our goal is to empower asset managers with the same robust solutions we’ve delivered globally, driving more efficient and transparent trading across Latin America.”
Broadway’s COO hired as new CEO of Quor Group
Commodity trade risk management (CTRM) software provider Quor Group announced the appointment of Bruce Boytim as its new chief executive officer. His financial services and technology sector background includes over 20 years of experience spanning SaaS, enterprise software, data solutions, and brokerage services.
Before joining Quor, Bruce served as the chief operating officer at Broadway Technology where he played a pivotal role in the company’s growth and market impact, ultimately leading to a successful acquisition by Bloomberg. His previous experience includes time as chief operating officer and chief strategy officer at Pico where he transformed the firm into an established player in the financial services space through a strong commitment to innovation and customer success.
Boytim said in a statement: “Quor has a strong reputation for providing best-in-class software, and I look forward to working with the highly experienced and talented team to further enhance our offerings and elevate innovation in the CTRM market. Together, we will navigate the continuously evolving global trading environment and continue to deliver exceptional value to our clients.”
Ishan Manaktala, operating partner at private equity firm STG, said in a statement: “Bruce is a dynamic leader with a proven track record of driving growth and operational excellence. We are excited to welcome him as CEO and are confident that his leadership will propel Quor and its customers to new levels.”
WAIFC elects Casablanca Finance City’s Merzouki as chair
The World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) concluded its 2024 Annual General Meeting in Japan, electing new leadership and welcoming two new members. At the AGM, Lamia Merzouki, deputy general manager at Casablanca Finance City, was elected as the new chair and Hubertus Väth, managing director at Frankfurt Main Finance, will be vice chair.
Lamia Merzouki, current vice chair of the WAIFC Board, said in a statement: “As WAIFC new chair, I am thrilled to follow Keiichi Aritomo’s strong leadership over the past 2 years. Financial centers around the world play a crucial role and I look forward to teaming up with our members to accelerate further our ‘2030 financial centers of the future’ agenda. Together, we can drive innovation, promote sustainability, and shape a more inclusive financial industry. I am excited to partner with our new vice-chair, Hubertus Väth, whose diverse perspective will greatly benefit our network.”
Keiichi Aritomo, current chair of the WAIFC Board of Directors, said in a statement: “In my tenure as chair, we saw meetings move from West to East, demonstrating the global nature of the alliance. Throughout this time we have created meaningful partnerships and exchanges of ideas in the most relevant topics to our sector, from sustainability, fintech and innovation, AI and Women in Finance and Art in Financial Centers. With a growing membership base, now expanding across Africa and Turkey, we continue to bring diverse examples of the amazing work conducted in financial centers and give members further opportunities to collaborate and exchange best practice in line with our purpose.”