People Moves: Apteo, Eka, Tier-1, SEC, CGQ, MEMX

Apteo Hires Uzzalino for Sales

New York-based startup alternative data analytics platform Apteo has hired James Uzzalino as head of platform sales, reporting to co-founder and CEO Shanif Dhanani.

Uzzalino was most recently an account executive at Thinknum, prior to which he was an institutional sales and service executive at Enterprise Technology Research, was an analyst for consultant relations at Lord, Abbett & Co., and was a financial advisor at UBS Financial Services.

Eka Bolsters Marketing with Garfield, Pearson

Commodities and energy trading and risk management software vendor Eka Software Solutions has hired Rob Garfield as VP of marketing, responsible for the vendor’s strategic messaging and positioning, content marketing, analyst and partner ecosystem relations, and sales enablement.

Garfield was previously global head of product marketing and corporate communications at Fincad, where he spent five years, prior to which he was global head of marketing for equities at Thomson Reuters. Before that, he served as an independent fintech marketing consultant, and was director of marketing and market data at SunGard Kiodex, VP of market data at the New York Mercantile Exchange, head of global energy at Reuters, and was an energy derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley.

He reports to chief marketing officer Nancy Pearson, who also recently joined the vendor from Ion Investment Group, where she was CMO, having served in the same role at OpenLink Financial prior to its acquisition by Ion. Before that, she spent 20 years at IBM in a range of marketing and management roles.

Tier1 Names New SVP of Sales

Tier1 Financial Solutions, a global relationship management technology provider for capital markets and banking, has named David Cotten its senior vice president of client services. Cotten, a certified Salesforce Technical Architect, will be tasked with ensuring that clients receive the most value out of Tier1’s application suite.

Before Tier1, Cotten worked for Bluewolf, an IBM company, as the managing director of North American delivery. During his 10-year tenure there, Cotten helped build the company’s managed services practices in the Midwest and southeast regions of the US, growing them more than 500%. Cotten also worked with Bluewolf’s strategic accounts group, helping drive practice defining programs at some of its largest customers.

At Tier1, he will report to chief operating officer (COO) and co-founder Phil Dias and will be based out of Tier1’s New York office.

CGQ Makes Three Strategic Appointments

CQG, a global provider of technology solutions for traders, brokers, commercial hedgers, and exchanges, announced that Benjamin Soong has joined the firm as APAC president, and Rick Chang as head of greater China. Rod Giffen, who most recently served as CQG APAC president has assumed the new role of chief experience officer.

Soong most recently served as head of Asia Pacific for Ledger, a provider in blockchain security technology. He previously spent more than 12 years at S&P Global Market Intelligence, including as head of Asia Pacific sales and relationship management. Beyond more than two decades of sales, business development, and operations experience, Soong also held finance and accounting roles at KPMG and Deloitte.

Chang also joined CQG from Ledger, where he served as head of commercial and operations in Asia Pacific, overseeing market development for several business lines. In his new role, he will report to Soong and oversee CQG’s continued growth in greater China. Chang spent eight years at S&P Global Market Intelligence in Hong Kong and China, most recently as head of Chinese sales.

Soong and Chang will operate out of CQG’s Shanghai office. The move follows the recent appointment of Andy Jennings as CQG head of EMEA, operating out of the London office.

SEC Appoints New Cyber Chief

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appointed Kristina Littman chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Cyber Unit, a national, specialized unit that focuses on protecting investors and markets from cyber-related misconduct. She succeeds Robert Cohen, who left the commission in August.

Littman joined the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in 2010 as a staff attorney in the Philadelphia office. Since then, she has held senior attorney positions in the Market Abuse Unit and the Trial Unit. During her SEC tenure, she conducted and led significant enforcement investigations and litigation, including multiple insider trading and fraud charges.

Since August 2017, she has served as senior advisor to SEC chairman Jay Clayton.  In that role, she has been the lead advisor to the chairman on matters involving the Division of Enforcement and Commission adjudications. She has also advised on regulatory and policy matters regarding cryptocurrency and digital assets, international affairs, trading and markets, and investment management.

MEMX Announce CFO, Other Management Roles

Members Exchange (MEMX), has grown its 10-person staff to 30 since early June with recent appointments including Louise Curbishley as CFO and Nick Ciarleglio as head of member experience.

Curbishley was most recently CFO and partner at Hitchwood Capital Management, where she was part of the leadership team that launched the firm. A member of the senior management committee, she was involved in all critical business decisions and had direct responsibility for best execution as well as the finance and risk functions.

Ciarleglio brings a technical background, having started his career as a technical consultant for Hewlett-Packard. He then joined Arista Networks in its startup phase as the first customer-facing engineer and, in his 12 years there, helped them to expand into a publicly traded company. He becomes a member of both MEMX’s management and technology teams, where he’s helping to configure switches and lay out network topology.