People Moves: Refinitiv, Apex, Connamara Systems, Ascertia

Former HSBC Exec Joins Contineo As CTO

Contineo, a Hong Kong-based open messaging platform for order management and price discovery, has appointed Franck Lerak as chief technology officer. Lerak’s role is to lead the firm’s technology teams as they continue to expand beyond its buy-side client base to investment counselors and relationship managers, as well as capitalize on new offerings, such as a lifecycle module and analytics tools.

Lerak joins from HSBC, where he was global head of equity derivatives IT and led the digital transformation of its technology stack. He was previously co-head of equity derivatives IT for JP Morgan, where he spent 24 years, leading the Pyramid platform for processing and derivatives risk management, and reengineering the firm’s technology solutions for equity derivatives from front to back.

Apex Anoints First Chief Data Officer

Renaud Oury has become the first chief data officer (CDO) for Apex Group, which offers a variety of financial, corporate, and fund solutions to the buy and sell sides. As CDO and a member of the executive committee, Oury is responsible for developing and managing the group’s analytics strategy through leveraging data to enhance client services and fine-tune efficiencies as the firm aim’s to become a data-driven organization.

Oury has been at Apex since July, joining as global head of sales analytics. Prior to that, he was head of Belgian and Dutch markets at Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL). He’s held executive sales and marketing roles at IQ-EQ and KNEIP, an international services provider to the fund industry. Based in Luxembourg, Oury is also a member of the ESG Committee of the Luxembourg PE Association (LPEA).

Bachurin to Lead Equity Trading at BCS Global Markets

BCS Global Markets (BCS GM), the investment banking arm of Russian broker BCS Financial Group, has hired Alexey Bachurin as the new head of equity trading, based out of London. He’ll be responsible for equities execution with a focus on global markets, and oversee all of BCS GM’s equities trading departments.

Bachurin joins the firm having held senior management positions within equity trading at IFC Metropol, Metallinvestbank and Renaissance Capital. Throughout his career, he’s risen from trader to managing director, has overseen multiple trading departments, and traded Russian equities in both Moscow and London.

Bachurin will report to Luis Saenz and Oleg Achkasov, co-heads of global equities.

Refinitiv Adds Global Head of M&A, Capital Raising and Investment Banking

Cornelia Anderson joins data giant Refinitiv as its new global head of M&A, capital raising and head of investment banking. She will lead investment into Refinitiv’s Investing & Advisory (I&A) franchise, including the building out of its teams and tech tools by expanding datasets and content into banker workflows.

Anderson joined Blackstone in 2007, and she was most recently global head of research and market data, leading the firm’s market data and business intelligence functions globally. Prior to Blackstone, she spent three years at Thomson Reuters as a project manager and the European lead for fund performance and private equity bench-marking solutions.

Based in London, Anderson will report to Pradeep Menon, managing director of I&A.

Digital Vega Makes Three Strategic Appointments

To support its ongoing product development and geographic expansion strategies, Digital Vega, which operates the Medusa FX Options trading platform, has appointed a head of Asia, head of product development, and an EMEA relationship manager.

Simon Nusey joins as head of Asia from Standard Chartered Bank, where he was head of FX options trading in Asia since 2012. Prior to this, he was global head of currency options trading at BNP Paribas for 17 years, working in both London and Singapore.

Asa Attwell becomes head of product development, responsible for delivery of the new FX Options Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) and market data services. He was previously head of EMEA FX and emerging markets at Nomura. Prior to this, he worked at BNP Paribas for 16 years in a variety of FX options roles, ending his time there as head of G10 FX trading.

Lastly, Laura Winkler was named EMEA relationship manager. She’s managed client relationships for several firms in her career, most recently at Luxoft, which was preceded by Currenex and Thomson Reuters.

Connamara Systems Announces New Advisory Board

Peter Willmott, Travis Schwab, and Maureen Downs make up the newly established advisory board for Connamara Systems, an exchange solutions provider and custom software developer for capital markets. They will advise the firm on issues such as growth strategies, talent acquisition and retention, business structure, and governance.

Willmott is a decorated Chicagoan businessman, having been president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer for FedEx, where he joined in 1973. Following that, he also served as chairman, president, and CEO of Carson Pirie Scott, president and CEO of Zenith Electronics, and chairman and CEO of Willmott Services.

Schwab is currently the CEO of Eventus Systems, a regtech software firm. He carries a background in financial services and product sales for firms such as Trading Technologies and Calyon Financial (now Société Générale).

Presently, Downs is the CEO of MC Downs & Co, a business advisory firm serving the trading and derivatives industries, as well as vice chair of the National Futures Association and chair of FIA Tech.

Ascertia Hires Hathaway As CTO

Mike Hathaway, a veteran in public key infrastructure (PKI), joins Surrey-based Ascertia as its new chief technology officer. He’ll drive further PKI architecture innovation at the firm, which provides high-trust digital signature and PKI solutions to the banking, government, and insurance industries.

Hathaway joins from Entrust, where he spent more than a decade as both an authentication specialist and director of product management. Prior to that he was a PKI architect and specialist, working as part of the Atlas consortium and at PwC’s beTRUSTed.