American Financial Exchange Names John Shay as CEO Following 7RIDGE Acquisition

The American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic exchange for direct lending and borrowing for US banks and financial institutions, has appointed veteran financial services executive John Shay as CEO. The announcement comes after the recent acquisition of AFX by 7RIDGE, a growth equity firm investing in transformative financial services technologies.

With decades of experience in leadership roles within the financial sector, Shay will lead AFX in accelerating its growth trajectory, expanding its network of members, and furthering the adoption of the AMERIBOR benchmark. Under 7RIDGE’s ownership and Shay’s leadership, the exchange aims to bring significant value to regional and local banks, helping them to source deposits, lend, borrow and manage risk effectively.

Adaptive Financial Consulting Bolsters Board with Two Non-Executive Directors

Adaptive Financial Consulting has announced the appointment of two Non-Executive Directors, Dr Stephen Norman and John O’Hara, to its Board. Dr Norman, who brings two decades of capital markets experience and has held senior roles at RBS Global Banking and Merrill Lynch, will succeed Janhavi Dadarkar as Chair of the Board.

John O’Hara, a co-founder and former CEO of Taskize, has extensive banking technology experience, having held senior roles at JPMorgan, Bank of America, RBS International Bank, and BP Energy Trading. The appointments follow a period of rapid expansion for Adaptive Financial Consulting, including key company hires and a significant increase in headcount.

ESG Consultancy 7 Centre Launched by Orenda Founder

A new consultancy, 7 Centre, has been launched, dedicated to advising corporate and financial clients on ESG engagement and offering guidance on sustainability strategies and incorporation of ESG factors into decision-making processes. The company was founded by ESG thought leader Tanya Seajay, who created alternative data firm Orenda.

NeoXam Announces New CEO and Growth Plans Following Eurazeo Investment

Financial software company NeoXam has promoted Florent Fabre to the position of CEO, following the recent investment by Eurazeo, the international private equity company. Fabre has over 20 years of experience in the financial software industry, having served as NeoXam’s Chief Operating Officer and Group Managing Director since 2015.

Fabre’s promotion, together with Eurazeo’s investment, will support NeoXam’s growth in Data Management and Reporting segments, as well as expanding its international presence in Asia, Northern Europe, and North America. The investment will also provide internal resources to help with the company’s buy-and-build strategy, accelerating product development and international expansion.

LSEG Bolsters Leadership with New Data & Analytics and Sales & Account Management Executives

LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) has announced the appointment of Satvinder Singh as Group Head of Data & Analytics and member of the LSEG Executive Committee, effective from 3 July 2023. Reporting to CEO David Schwimmer, Singh will lead LSEG’s global data and analytics businesses, catering to over 40,000 customers across 190 countries, and will also spearhead the joint development of new products and services in collaboration with Microsoft.

Furthermore, LSEG has confirmed the appointment of Ron Lefferts as Group Head of Sales & Account Management to the LSEG Executive Committee, effective immediately. Based in New York, Lefferts joined LSEG in 2021 to lead the Data & Analytics Sales and LSEG key account teams.

TS Imagine Expands North American Team with Key Sales Hires

Trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions provider TS Imagine has appointed two key sales hires to support its rapid growth in North America. James Muench has joined as Sales Director, focusing on the development and growth of the firm’s Fixed Income business, bringing over a decade of Institutional Credit Sales experience from roles at Tradeweb and Barclays Capital. Jake Elkins also joined as Sales Director, tasked with contributing to TS Imagine’s growth across the region, bringing capital markets technology expertise from previous roles at IHS Markit and State Street.

The expansion of TS Imagine’s sales team follows the recent launch of RiskSmart X, a risk management solution for banks and prime brokers, as well as the company’s announcement of a 72% surge in global recurring bookings in 2022.

Opensee Names Emmanuel Richard as Chief Growth Officer and MD of North American Operations

Opensee, a provider of data access and real-time analytics to financial institutions, has appointed Emmanuel Richard as Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director of North American operations. Richard brings over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, having held roles at Rimini Street and MicroStrategy. He will work alongside Rodrigo Medgenberg, VP of Sales, to accelerate Opensee’s go-to-market strategy.

Opensee aims to help financial institutions unlock valuable business and risk intelligence from vast data sets. With Richard’s appointment, the firm is also confirming its strategy to invest in partnerships as a key growth driver, leveraging its open API architecture to enable integrators to deliver bespoke solutions across the financial industry.

Clearwater Analytics Appoints First Chief Revenue Officer and Bolsters European Leadership

Clearwater Analytics, the SaaS-based investment management, accounting, reporting, and analytics solutions provider, has announced the appointment of Scott Erickson as the company’s first Chief Revenue Officer. Erickson will oversee Clearwater’s sales efforts in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and will work to continue expanding the company’s market share across all regions. With 18 years of experience driving growth at Clearwater, Erickson has held roles in services, product strategy, and sales.

To strengthen its European leadership team, the company has relocated Brian Slattery, who led Clearwater’s efforts in the North American insurance market, to London, where he will focus on the Northern European market. Josef Sommeregger, a former leader at SimCorp, has been appointed to lead the DACH region, joining Thomas van Cauwelaert, regional head for France, and Sai Perry, Head of Solutions across Europe. This team will report directly to Erickson.

Torstone Hires Sam Farrell as Head of North America

Torstone Technology, the SaaS platform for post-trade securities and derivatives processing, has appointed Sam Farrell as Head of North America, based in Toronto. He will have oversight of all Torstone’s US and Canadian operations and will be tasked with expanding Torstone’s footprint in North America.

Prior to joining Torstone, Farrell spent the last 35 years in Canadian financial services, having previously worked at RBC, TD Securities, Scotiabank, and most recently at Credit Suisse Canada as a senior operations leader. Over his career, he has led a number of significant initiatives, including the Credit Suisse migration to Torstone’s Cloud Platform.

Peter Serenita Joins Element22 as Advisory Partner

Peter Serenita, one of the first global CDOs in financial services, and chairman of the EDM Council’s board of directors, has joined Element22, a provider of data, data management and analytics solutions and consulting services, as an advisory partner. His role will include collaborating with Element22’s clients on a variety of projects using his knowledge to provide guidance and counsel on data management and analytics strategies. Serenita, will also be instrumental in shaping Element22’s strategic vision, product innovation, and consulting offerings. Before joining Element22, Serenita held the position of CDO at several prominent financial institutions. Most recently, he served as Scotia Bank’s CDO for five years, and prior to that, he held CDO roles at HSBC and JP Morgan.