Elsewhere, Kevin Galvin was appointed as a sales trader in Redburn Atlantic’s Boston team. Galvin joined from Cantor Fitzgerald, where he spent the last 19 years. As part of his new role, Galvin will be responsible for growing the region’s high touch business.

Wells Fargo appointed John O’Neil as an equity trader. As part of the role, O’Neil will be based in New York. He joins Wells Fargo from JP Morgan, where he spent the last 17 and a half years. Most recently, O’Neil served as an equity traders at the bank.

XTX Markets appointed Igor Zelenberg to its business development team, where he will focus on building out the firm’s ETF efforts. As part of the role, Zelenberg will be based in New York. Zelenberg brings over 16 years of ETF trading experience to the role, having most recently served at Goldman Sachs. Elsewhere, he held positions at Getco/KCG, HRT and XR Trading.

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The bank has processed its first NDF trade through the service and becomes the third new clearing member to join LCH ForexClear in the past 12 months.

Wells Fargo will now be able to benefit from ForexClear’s offering, including margin, liquidity and netting opportunities.

“As we continue to expand our offering to financial institutions globally, following the addition of two new members from Asia and Europe in 2023.

Their membership reinforces our commitment to providing leading FX clearing and financial resource and risk management services to the FX market, as a growing number of firms increase their cleared flow,” said Andrew Batchelor, head of ForexClear, LCH.

LCH ForexClear has experienced growth across its service this year, having achieved record NDF average daily volume (ADV) of $132 billion cleared in June this year, up 33% year-on-year.

Elsewhere, FX options ADV at ForexClear was up 126% year-on-year to $22 billion in June.

“Given the strategic growth of our FX platform over the last few years, it was important to unlock the margin and capital efficiencies provided through ForexClear,” said Vincent Hindman, head of foreign exchange at Wells Fargo.

“As more interbank and client volume continues to migrate towards NDF clearing, this will allow us to further mitigate counterparty credit risk and lower costs through multilateral risk netting.”

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Drew Vincent is set to join TD Cowen in an execution services role following almost 15 years at Credit Suisse. During his tenure, Vincent held various positions across Credit Suisse, most recently as head of AES sales trading, based in London. He also worked on the client coverage team of Credit Suisse’s agency electronic trading platform, Europe, focused on bespoke execution consulting and strategies. In his most recent position, Vincent led a team of sales traders, overseeing the restructured coverage in the aftermath of Brexit, as well as managing the review and deployment of algorithms and implementing T-1 related changes for business operations.

Aquis exchange chief operating officer Jonathan Clelland is set to depart next April, with chief revenue officer and head of Aquis Markets David Stevens appointed to replace him. Prior to joining Aquis, Clelland was chief operating officer at HSBC Investment Bank corporate finance division and of Shearman & Sterling in London. Clelland will remain as a special advisor in order to “ensure a smooth transition”. Stevens joined Aquis in 2021 and had previously held various senior roles across financial services and technology. His past positions included chief executive of foreign exchange broker Global Reach Group, as well as senior roles at Investment Technology Group, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Twelve individuals were appointed to lead UBS’ business across various areas as it restructures its operations. In the vertical global product pillars, Adrian Bracher was appointed to lead macro structured solutions (rates and FX), having joined UBS this month. Ramzi Issa was named structured credit and sustainable credit products lead, joining the business in November, as is Julien Bieren, soon to lead equity structured solutions. Also in the vertical restructure is Guilio Alfinito, appointed to lead QIS structuring, and Richard Walters, new lead of fund derivatives and structured finance solutions. Under the horizontal set-up, Romain Barba will join the business in November toco-lead APAC structuring alongside Ahmad Chaudry, while Chris Cook will head up Americas structuring. In addition, Erica Yeu will lead wealth management solutions, while Ahmad Chaudry leads wrapping solutions and Hannah Vinci oversees strategic products. Spyros Mesomeris, in addition to his global role, will head up EMEA structuring.

Investec named Paul Moss as its newest equity sales trader following three and a half years at Goldman Sachs. Moss has an established focus on global emerging markets, having worked across various jurisdictions within his roles. He has held various positions across the industry, most recently as CEEMEA (Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa) equity sales trader at Goldman Sachs. Before that we worked in a range of roles at Citi, most recently as pan Asia equity sales trader.

Instinet appointed Christopher Brown as executive director, latency sensitive electronic trading (LSET). Brown joined from JP Morgan where he spent nearly four years as executive director of quantitative investment strategies (QIS). Prior to that, Brown spent almost 3 years at Citi as director of systemic and quant trading solutions. Before joining Citi, Brown served as director, autobahn equity sales and trading, low latency DMA at Deutsche Bank. Elsewhere in his career, Brown held senior position at FIX Protocol, Chi-East and Instinet – the latter being his first tenure at the firm in 2009.

MUFG appointed Daniel Sbroocca in a credit trading position, joining from BNP Paribas where he spent almost nine years. While at BNP Paribas, Sbrocca most recently served as an emerging markets credit trader – a position he held for two years. Previously, Sbrocca held an emerging markets credit sales position at the firm. Elsewhere in his tenure at BNP Parabis, Sbrocca served in a corporate rates sales role for Northern Europe.

Wells Fargo appointed Jon Thorne as senior securities sales trading specialist, joining from Credit Suisse, where he spent 13 and a half years. Most recently, Thorne served as a listed sales trader – a position he held for almost 11 years. Elsewhere during his tenure at Credit Suisse, Thorne worked in a FX and futures execution position as well as a FX prime brokerage role. Before joining Credit Suisse, Thorne held an eFX and prime brokerage FX position at Commerzbank AG. Prior to that, he held the same role at Dresdner Kleinwort.

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According to a post on social media, Thorne joins Wells Fargo from Credit Suisse, where he spent 13 and a half years.

Most recently, Thorne served as a listed sales trader – a position he held for almost 11 years.

Elsewhere during his tenure at Credit Suisse, Thorne held a FX and futures execution position as well as a FX prime brokerage role.

Before joining Credit Suisse, Thorne held an eFX and prime brokerage FX position at Commerzbank AG.

Prior to that, he held the same role at Dresdner Kleinwort.

Thorne’s addition to Wells Fargo follows a string of recent appointments following Credit Suisse’s landmark takeover from UBS which was completed in March.

Read more: UBS agrees landmark takeover of Credit Suisse after intervention from Swiss authorities

Most recently, The TRADE revealed that Drew Vincent is set to join TD Cowen in an execution services role following almost 15 years at Credit Suisse.

Jonathan Tse was appointed managing director, EMEA head of electronic trading quant analytics, platform and product at UBS last month, following a move over from Credit Suisse.

Elsewhere, RBC appointed two former Credit Suisse senior algorithmic trading individuals to join its low touch electronic sales and trading team. James Hilton was appointed multi-asset managing director in RBC’s low touch team, while Suzanne Webster joined as a multi-asset director.

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The two leading US capital markets watchdogs have come down on almost a dozen organisations over recordkeeping failures with their combined penalties totalling nearly $550 million.

The SEC has charged 11 Wall Street firms $289 million for widespread recordkeeping failures, while in a parallel case, the CFTC has issued orders to four bank-affiliated swap dealers and/or futures commission merchants (FCMs), totalling $260 million.

The SEC handed out a range of penalties: $125 million to Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo Clearing Services, and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network; $35 million to BNP Paribas Securities and SG Americas; $25 million to BMO Capital Markets and Mizuho Securities USA; $15 million to Houlihan Lokey Capital; $10 million to Moelis & Company and Wedbush Securities; and $9 million to SMBC Nikko Securities America.

All 11 firms had been found to have been using longstanding “off-channel” communications following an investigation by the SEC.

The SEC specifically highlighted electronic communications and the widespread and longstanding failures by firms and their employees to maintain and preserve these.

Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement underscored the lessons that must be learnt from the action, highlighting that the commission has now brought 30 enforcement actions and fined more than $1.5 billion to date.

“While some broker-dealers and investment advisers have heeded this message, self-reported violations, or improved internal policies and procedures, today’s actions remind us that many still have not. So here are three takeaways for those firms who haven’t yet done so: self-report, cooperate and remediate. If you adopt that playbook, you’ll have a better outcome than if you wait for us to come calling,” he advised.

All firms admitted wrongdoing, confirming the facts set out in the SEC orders and acknowledged their violations of the recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws. A statement from the SEC confirmed that improvements have already begun to be implemented in the firm’s respective compliance policies and procedures.

In addition to recordkeeping faults, the CFTC also highlighted supervision failures related to the widespread use of unapproved communication methods.

The regulator has landed BNP, Société Générale and Wells Fargo with $75 million penalties each, while the Bank of Montreal has been handed a lesser $35 million.

Additionally, the CFTC has also confirmed that the settlements also require an admission of wrongdoing from the banks.

Ian McGinley, director of enforcement at CFTC, said: “With today’s actions, the CFTC has now brought enforcement actions against 18 financial institutions, and imposed over $1 billion in penalties, for violations of the CFTC’s recordkeeping and supervision requirements involving the use of unapproved communication methods. 

“The Commission’s message could not be more clear—recordkeeping and supervision requirements are fundamental, and registrants that fail to comply with these core regulatory obligations do so at their own peril.”

The CFTC order found that over a period of years, the firms failed to stop employees – including at the senior level – from communicating using unapproved methods, including via WhatsApp.

In a statement, the CFTC explained that as the written communications were on the whole not maintained and preserved by the firms, they would not have been able to provide them to the CFTC promptly upon request.

Earlier today, Christy Goldsmith Romero, the CFTC Commissioner released a statement in which she strongly backed the ruling and emphasised a zero-tolerance approach: “[…] Wall Street institutions do not get to keep regulators in the dark while enjoying all of the benefits of being a regulated entity in U.S. financial markets.  Those choosing to participate in U.S. financial markets are on notice—The era of evasive communications practices is over.

“The CFTC will hold you accountable. It’s time for Wall Street to stop waiting for an enforcement action before it changes its practices.  Tone at the top must change on Wall Street.  Change can only happen if the banks’ C-suite establishes a culture of compliance over evasion.”

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The TDN initiative provides a shared ledger of trading information specifically aimed at addressing current fragmentation and lack of transparency which exists in exchange traded derivatives (ETD) post-trade processing.

According to the business, the initial rollout “is focused on allocations processing and trade confirmations, with trade lifecycle transparency across the multiple brokers and the clearinghouse on each trade”.

Its roll-out is also set to reduce overall costs and clearing delays for brokers, as well as increasing value for independent software vendors through reducing the complexity of delivering services to clients.

Currently, the TDN comprises 16 banks and brokers and 40 investment managers and hedge funds. Altogether the combined assets under management is more than $37 trillion. Its offering spans across metrics tracking, benchmarking and reporting.

Speaking to the strategic funding for the next stage of development, Nick Solinger, president and chief executive of FIA Tech, said: “TDN has already proven its operational resiliency for participants in recent times of high market volumes and volatility.”

Following its investment, BNP Paribas now forms part of FIA Tech’s ownership consortium and is set to serve on its board of directors.

Raphael Masgnaux, head of global technology platforms for global markets at BNP Paribas, highlighted the close relationship the business has shared with FIA Tech over the years and added: “Technology is a central pillar of BNP Paribas’ GTS 25 (Growth Technology Sustainability) Strategic Plan, and the TDN initiative promises to deliver a pivotal platform for the ETD industry.”

Back in 2021, ten global clearing firms took part in a $44 million investment in FIA Tech to fund the spin-off of the firm and develop its existing products serving the derivatives markets.

Investors at that time included: ABN AMRO Clearing, Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wells Fargo.

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Wells Fargo appointed Bernie Rajamani as lead securities algorithmic trader. Rajamani joined the firm from Citi, where he spent the last 13 years in a variety of roles. Most recently, Rajamani served as director of algorithmic trading for six years, following four years as vice president of algorithmic trading. Prior to this, he served as an associate in quantitative algorithmic trading and as a credit derivatives quantitative analyst.

The post People Moves Monday: Updates from the trading space appeared first on The TRADE.

The bank reported total revenue of $19.7 billion in Q4 2022, a 6% decline from the same period in 2021 ($20.9 billion). However, it saw an increase in non-interest expenses which increased from $13.2 billion to $16.2 billion in the same quarter, resulting in the decrease in net income overall.

Wells Fargo’s corporate and investment banking arm experienced a more positive quarter, with total revenue increasing by 18% compared to Q1 2021, up from $3.5 billion to $4.1 billion.

Notably, and in comparison to some of its peers, banking revenues were up 22% compared to the same period in 2021, which the bank attributed to stronger treasury management results reflecting the impact of higher interest rates and improved lending results on higher loan balances, partially offset by lower investment banking fees reflecting lower market activity.

Markets revenues were up 17% due to higher trading revenue in equities, rates and commodities, foreign exchange, and municipal products. Fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) earnings increased by 18% from Q4 2021, with earnings increasing from $794 million to $935 million.

Equities revenues saw an even larger increase, with earnings up from $205 million to $279 million, an upward shift by 36% compared to Q4 2021.

“Though the quarter was significantly impacted by previously disclosed operating losses, our underlying performance reflected the progress we are making to improve returns,” said Charlie Scharf, chief executive of Wells Fargo.

“Rising interest rates drove strong net interest income growth, credit losses have continued to increase slowly but credit quality remained strong, and we continue to make progress on our efficiency initiatives.”

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Credit Suisse hired Marcus Friberg as its latest credit trader, based in London. He joins Credit Suisse from ING, where he spent almost five years as a corporate bond trader. Previously in his career, Friberg spent just under three years working with Citi in emerging markets debt origination. 

Agency broker BTIG promoted Paras Shah to the role of head of EMEA credit trading. Shah joined BTIG in June this year as managing director, credit, as part of an expansion of BTIG’s fixed income credit team. Shah previously served at Citi for just over three years as head of EMEA high yield trading. Earlier in his career, he served at HSBC for seven years as a director in both high yield and sterling credit trading.

Equity trader with a decade of experience, George Wales, left Winterflood Securities to join investment bank Numis. Wales joined Numis as an equity sales trader after spending the last two years at Winterflood. Prior to joining Winterflood in 2020, Wales spent six years at RBC Asset Management as an equity trader as well as previously serving in roles across Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, CVC Cordatus, and Northern Trust Corporation.

Mizuho’s London-based head of USD rates trading, Kevin Broughton, departed the firm for Wells Fargo. Broughton joined Wells Fargo as a macro rates trader after most recently spending the last year at Mizuho. Prior to joining Mizuho in 2021, Broughton served as a senior consultant at Accenture and in rates trading roles across RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank, TD, and Morgan Stanley. Previously in his career, he also spent a year as a broker at ICAP.

The post People Moves Monday: Trading faces appeared first on The TRADE.

The addition of the offshore Yuan will make it the fifth currency to be settled between the two banks, using a shared settlement ledger that currently encompasses the US dollar, Canadian dollar, British pound sterling and the Euro.

Launched in December last year, HSBC and Wells Fargo’s shared distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution has settled more than $200 billion in transactions, with plans for additional currencies to be added in the next few months.

“Extending CNH PvP settlement to Wells Fargo is an important milestone for reducing Herstatt Risk outside G10 currencies,” said Mark Williamson, global head of FX partnerships and propositions at HSBC.

“This development is only our first step in extending our coverage into Emerging Markets currencies.”

Joint operations teams at HSBC and Wells Fargo manage the shared, private ledger, with total visibility by each of the parties to the relevant FX settlement, alongside shared FX transaction records.

A framework of an agreed rulebook governs the platform and facilitates efficient netting and settlement of FX transactions between HSBC and Wells Fargo in EUR, GBP, CAD, USD and now CNH. The two banks stated that participants in the network are only privy to transactions to which they are a counterparty.

“We are pleased to expand the capabilities of the platform to include CNH, allowing us to reduce risk in the payment settlement process,” said Vince Hindman, global head of rates and FX solutions at Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Bank.

“The collaboration shows that we can pursue innovative technologies and apply them in a way that enhances our existing infrastructure and ultimately benefits our clients.”

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