President Barack Obama nominated Mary Jo White to be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). White most recently was a partner at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, where she prosecuted terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. She replaces Elisse Walter, who has served as acting chairman since Mary Schapiro resigned in December.
Jill Sommers will step down as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after the first quarter of 2013, after five years at the agency. In her resignation letter, Sommers said that although “[she] did not always agree with the direction of the agency, [she admires] the fine men and women at the CFTC who work tirelessly to protect the integrity of our financial markets.”
Melissa Andrews was promoted to general counsel of R.J. O’Brien & Associates. Andrews joined the futures brokerage in late 2010 as associate general counsel. Her prior work experience includes stints in the law firms of Hogan Lovells and SNR Denton.
TMX Group Ltd. named Jean Desgagne president and CEO of The Canadian Depository for Securities Ltd. (CDS). Desgagne, who previously was senior vice president for trading risk services at TD Bank Group, will also join TMX Group’s executive management committee and serve as one of its officers.
Standard Chartered named Margaret Harwood-Jones global head, investors & intermediaries, sales, transaction banking. Harwood-Jones joins the bank from BNP Paribas Securities Services, where she served as head of client segments, asset managers and alternative investments. In her new role, she will spearhead the business agenda for institutional investors and intermediary clients.
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) appointed Ken Henry as one of its non-executive directors, effective Feb. 1. Henry served as the secretary of Australia’s Department of the Treasury from 2001 to 2011.
Paul Idzik is now CEO of E*TRADE Financial Corp. Idzik most recently served as group chief executive of DTZ Hodlings in London. He also spent a decade at Barclays, where held various titles, including chief operating officer of Barclays Capital and group chief operating officer. E*TRADE’s interim CEO Frank Petrilli will continue at the company at chairman.
Nasdaq OMX NLX appointed David Helps as its head of business development. Helps joins the exchange from NYSE Liffe, where he was head of business development for fixed income derivatives. Nasdaq also named Blake Stephenson compliance director. Stephenson will join the new London derivatives market from the Futures and Options Association in February. Finally, the Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. named Bradley Peterson global chief information officer.
Gregg Berman is now the associate director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s office of analytics and research. Berman joined the agency in 2009 as a senior adviser in the division of risk, strategy and financial innovation, and has served as senior adviser to the director of the division of trading and markets since June 2010.
GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. named Joseph Wald executive vice president, head of institutional. Wald joins the online trading services provider from Knight Capital Group, where he led Knight Direct, the firm’s institutional electronic trade execution business. He previously was co-founder and CEO of EdgeTrade.
Bill Mitchell joined WHM Capital Advisors as senior portfolio manager. Mitchell’s prior work experience includes stints at Wells Fargo Advisors and Elliott Wave International, where he acted as chief equity strategist.
T. Timothy Ryan will step down as president and CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) on Feb. 23. Ryan, who joined SIFMA in 2008, plans to rejoin JPMorgan Chase & Co. as global head of regulatory strategy and policy. Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., the organization’s executive vice president, public policy and advocacy, has been named acting president and CEO.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEx) announced two senior appointments. David Graham will now serve as chief regulatory officer, overseeing HKEx’s listing division and market surveillance, legal services and secretarial services departments. Romnesh Lamba, previously the exchange’s head of market development, and Martin Abbott, CEO of the London Metal Exchange, are now co-heads of the new global markets division.