People Moves: MarketAxess, FCA, Cowen, IQ-EQ, and more

MarketAxess hires Panchal as CIO, replacing Themelis

MarketAxess, an operator of electronic trading platforms for fixed-income securities and a provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets, has announced that Nash Panchal will succeed Nick Themelis as MarketAxess’ chief information officer. MarketAxess previously announced Themelis’ retirement from MarketAxess, after 16 years as the company’s CIO.

Panchal will join MarketAxess in March after more than 20 years as a technology leader at Goldman Sachs. Themelis will remain with the company in an advisory capacity through 2022 to ensure a smooth transition.

Panchal was most recently managing director and global co-head of technology in Goldman Sachs’ asset management division. His previous roles include global head of asset management, portfolio management, and trading technology, and global co-head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities technology in Goldman Sachs’ global markets division. Prior to his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Panchal was a financial services consultant at Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture.

He will be based in New York and report to president and chief operating officer, Chris Concannon.

FCA and PSR appoint interim chairs

Richard Lloyd, the Financial Conduct Authority’s senior independent director, has been appointed interim chair of the FCA, beginning in June. The move follows the recent news that current chair Charles Randell will step down this spring. Aidene Walsh, non-executive director of the Payments Systems Regulator, will act as interim chair of PSR, starting in April.

Lloyd is chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and vice chair of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. He has previously held executive positions at British consumer watchdog Which?, Consumers International, and Shelter.

Walsh is currently an executive director with Banking Competition Remedies Limited (BCR), the organization established to implement the alternative remedies package of measures agreed between the UK government and the European Commission. Prior to joining BCR, she was CEO of The Fairbanking Foundation after senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, ABN Amro, and Citigroup.

Cowen expands fixed-income outsourced trading team

Cowen has announced the expansion of its fixed-income outsourced trading team with the appointment of John Orrock as managing director. He will be based in the UK and will report directly to Joram Siegel, head of fixed-income outsourced trading.

In this newly created role, Orrock will work closely with the firm’s existing team of traders to help Cowen’s global client-base access liquidity while supporting expansion efforts of Cowen’s fixed-income outsourced trading capabilities throughout Europe and Asia. Cowen Outsourced Trading introduced fixed income as an asset class in January 2021, providing buy-side clients with an institutional-grade desk and access to a breadth of competitively priced liquidity and high-quality execution and reporting.

Orrock spent 17 years as head of trading at BlueBay Asset Management, and most recently worked as head of emerging markets and outsourcing at Aurel Partners, a division of BGC.

IQ-EQ appoints new global head of transformation

IQ-EQ, an investor services group, has named Frédérik Benoit as the newly added global head of transformation.

Prior to joining IQ-EQ, he was managing director and global head of fiduciary and fund services operations for financial markets at Standard Chartered, where he was responsible for the division’s overall operational footprint including hub operations in India, Malaysia, and China.

Benoit will be based in the Luxembourg office and work closely with another new hire, Joanna Macleod, IQ-EQ’s group chief operating officer. In this role, he will ensure that IQ-EQ operates as effectively and efficiently as possible through driving business improvement initiatives on a global scale. 

LPA expands UK consulting team with two new senior hires

LPA, a capital markets technology and advisory firm, has expanded its UK consulting team with two additional senior hires: Russell Chumbley as director of capital markets consulting, technology, development and transformation, and James Kirkham as head of UK risk function.

Chumbley was previously at Nomura International, where he last served as the firm’s global head of enterprise data and corporate technology.

Kirkham’s previous experience includes time at HSBC, Santander, and UBS.

Both will be based out of LPA’s Canary Wharf office in London.