QuantHouse Appoints CTO and COO to Drive Growth and Innovation

QuantHouse has appointed its co-founder Denery Fenouil as chief technology officer (CTO) and Emmanuel Carjat, co-founder of Atrium Network, as chief operating officer (COO) to facilitate the company’s global growth. Rejoining the firm to oversee software and technology development, Fenouil was previously the architect of QuantHouse’s low latency market data solution. As COO, Carjat will manage QuantHouse’s operations and guide continued growth, which the firm says has escalated since the buyback from S&P in 2017, driven by product innovation and strategic investment.

Fintech Advisor Amar Rajani Joins VTFinTech Board

VTFinTech, a provider of index management and research evaluation services, has named Amar Rajani as a member of its board with immediate effect. Rajani is the founder and managing director of Argella, an advisory firm specialising in fintech and with specialist knowledge in research, data and analytics. Prior to founding Argella, Rajani spent 17 years at Bloomberg, where he was responsible for a range of buy-side and sell-side products.

VTFinTech manages investment portfolios and bespoke benchmarks through its Parity One solution and provides independent evaluation of investment research through Parity One Research, helping firms comply with EU Benchmarks Regulation and the research unbundling requirements of MiFID II.

Rajani says: “VTFinTech has come together to transform the way investments are done today by introducing intelligent quantitative techniques and automation into various investment functions. Its unique offering is a game changer in today’s post MiFID II research environment.”

FSB Names US Federal Reserve’s Randal K Quarles as Chair

Mark Carney will step down from the role of chair at the Financial Stability Board (FSB) at the end of this month, making way for Randal K Quarles, governor and vice chairman for supervision at the US Federal Reserve, to take the chair for a three-year term running from December 2, 2018 to December 1, 2021. Klaas Knot, president of De Nederlandsche Bank, becomes vice chair and will succeed Quarles as chair from December 2, 2021 to December 1, 2024. The appointments were recommended by a specially convened FSB nominations committee and unanimously agreed by the plenary of the organisation.

FCA Seeks New Director of Innovation

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is on the hunt for a new Director of Innovation to head up its newly created Innovation Division. The role will have responsibility for driving the FCA’s engagement with technological innovation within the financial services industry while developing, new, innovative and data-led ways of regulating.

“This role will have a large impact on the FCA and the achievement of its objectives through helping build approaches in innovation, fintech, regtech, advanced analytics and data,” said the FCA in the job advert, which was posted in mid-November 2019.

LSE Group Names Tom Dunlap as CDO of Information Services Division

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has named Tom Dunlap as chief data officer (CDO) of its Information Services Division, which includes global index provider FTSE Russell. The role is new and gives Dunlap responsibility for developing and leading the division’s global data strategy, overseeing a global team across multiple sites, engaging with key global clients, and working collaboratively across LSEG’s business, operations and technology areas to drive future growth. Dunlap will be based in LSEG’s Fort Mill, South Carolina office.

Horizon Software Names Keith Todd as a Member of its Advisory Board

Horizon Software has named Keith Todd CBE as a member of its advisory board. The addition of Todd to the Horizon team follows a management buy-out of the company with private equity firm Capzanine in June 2018 and a period of growth. Todd brings over 40 years of technology business experience to institutions ranging from publicly listed and large multinationals to start-ups. Before launching the software group KRM22, of which Todd is chairman and CEO, Todd was executive chairman at ION Agency Trading. He also served as executive chairman and CEO of FFastFill, a software-as-a-service provider to the derivatives community.

Digiterre Names Rob Swan as Partner and Commercial Director

Trading and investment technology supplier Digiterre has named Rob Swan as partner and commercial director. Swan has held positions at HSBC Asset Management, Close Brothers, Henderson Global Investors, Skandia Investment Management and Neuberger Berman. He most recently led the data services team at Calastone, where he offered a global distribution insight tool for both fund manufacturers and distributors. At Digiterre, Swan will be responsible for overseeing commercial strategy and increasing offerings to new and existing clients.

Dale Richards Joins Zelig Associates as Senior Advisor

Zelig Associates, a boutique investment bank specialising in fintech, has named Dale Richards as senior advisor. Richards will be based in Toronto and support the team globally. Richards has over 30 years’ experience in fintech, data and analytics as a senior executive, investor and consultant. His appointment will strengthen Zelig’s global reach and domain expertise in fintech, and support relationships with strategic acquirers, start-ups, and investors. Richards is the founder and managing partner of Island 20 Ventures, a strategy and advisory firm in the fields of alternative data, data management, big data, analytics, technology, business strategy and data monetisation.

Vela Names Scott Visconti as Chief Technology Officer

Vela has named Scott Visconti as chief technology officer (CTO), a role reporting to CEO Jennifer Nayar and responsible for technology strategy, supporting growth and next stage development of Vela’s product stack, services and processes. Visconti will be based in Vela’s headquarters in New York and will lead the global development team while working alongside the executive team to cement the firm’s position as an innovative and transformational leader. Prior to joining Vela, Visconti co-founded MarketOpen, a start-up data analytics platform providing trading surveillance of stocks, exchange-traded funds, equity options, futures and crypto assets for investor relations and market professionals.

Moody’s Names Former Oppenheimer Funds IT Lead Mona Breed as CIO

Moody’s has named industry veteran Mona Breed as chief information officer (CIO) with effect from October 15, 2018. Breed succeeds Tony Stoupas, who has led Moody’s IT organisation as CIO since 2010 and will remain with the company until the end of 2018. As CIO, Breed will lead Moody’s global technology infrastructure and programmes, and report to president and CEO Raymond McDaniel. She joins the company from Oppenheimer Funds, where she led IT infrastructure and drove innovation and transformation around the firm’s cloud computing, unified communication and collaboration, data centre operations and workplace technologies.