Niresh Rajah Moves on From Grant Thornton to Take CDO Role at Danske Bank

Niresh Rajah, currently managing director and head of the digital, data and RegTech practice at Grant Thornton in the UK, will join Danske Bank as CDO and a member of the technology and services leadership team with effect from 17 April 2023. Rajah will work with Danske Bank COO and member of the executive leadership team, Frans Woelders, to take the bank’s data and analytics to the next level.

GoldenSource Names Swati Tyagi as Chief Product Officer

GoldenSource has appointed Swati Tyagi as chief product officer based in New York, leading the product team, and overseeing product strategy. She will also join the management team with her experience of integrating applications brought together by acquisition an important factor as GoldenSource looks to incorporate acquisitions into its growth strategy. Tyagi joins GoldenSource from financial intelligence platform Sentieo, recently acquired by Alphasense, where she was vice president of product management.

Avelacom Appoints Timothy Wong as VP of Sales in APAC and Opens Hong Kong Office

Avelacom, the low latency connectivity, IT infrastructure and data solutions provider, has appointed Timothy Wong as VP of Sales for the APAC region. Wong joins from Xenith IG (formerly Superloop Asia) and brings over 15 years of experience working in data and network systems across sales, business development and technology.

In addition, the company has taken on new office space in Hong Kong to support its expansion in the region.

OpenSee Positions for Growth with New Hires in US

OpenSee, the financial data analytics company, has made one global appointment and added three executives in its New York office to drive sales and broaden support for international and domestic clients in the US. Abdul Anwari and Michael Bailleux join as US Sales Directors, reporting to Rodrigo Medgenberg, who was appointed as VP Sales late last year. The company also recruited Stéphane Sesquin as its New York-based Head of Solutions.

The appointments form part of Opensee’s global growth strategy following the company’s €11 million Series A funding round in December.

Xceptor Replaces Retiring CEO Andrew Kouloumbrides with SAP Executive Michiel Verhoeven

Xceptor, provider of a data automation platform, has announced the retirement of CEO Andrew Kouloumbrides and the appointment of Michiel Verhoeven as its new CEO. Verhoeven, managing director of SAP UK and Ireland, will take over leadership of Xceptor on 3 April 2023.

BMLL Hires Industry Veteran Rob Laible as Head of Americas

Following its recent US$26 million funding round, BMLL, the independent provider of harmonized, historical Level 3 data and analytics, has appointed industry veteran Rob Laible as Head of Americas, with plans to open a New York area-based office. Laible comes with over 30 years’ experience of running global institutional businesses across sales and trading, technology, compliance, risk and operations.  Most recently he served as Global Head of Equities at Liquidnet. Earlier in his career, he worked for global organizations such as Macquarie Securities, Nomura, Lehman Brothers and ITG.

Laible will report to Paul Humphrey, BMLL’s CEO, and join the senior leadership team to drive the company’s US expansion.

Pico Appoints Bo Zhou as Head of APAC

Pico, the technology services, software, data and analytics vendor, has named Bo Zhou, Ph.D., as Head of APAC to oversee Pico’s continued growth in the region. Zhou brings more than 15 years of financial markets industry experience and was most recently Partner and Senior Managing Director for IHS Markit (now S&P Global). Previously, she served in various leadership positions at Bloomberg.

As Head of APAC, Zhou will drive Pico’s expansion efforts in Asia Pacific while overseeing all sales, operations and engineering throughout the region, in partnership with key global executives.

Taskize Hires James Pike as Head of Business Development

Taskize, the provider of inter-company workflow to the financial services industry, has announced the appointment of former Morgan Stanley Managing Director James Pike as Head of Business Development. Based in London, Pike brings over 24 years’ worth of industry knowledge and experience across securities and derivatives, having most recently held the role of EMEA Head of Client Operations and Global Head of Institutional Client Services at Morgan Stanley. Prior to that he was Global Co-Head of Equity Operations.

Pike’s role will be to continue the growth of the Taskize network, which has passed over 530 financial institutions, growing from 289 in January 2021.

Appital Appoints Matthew Jefford as Business Development Executive

Appital, the equity markets technology solution vendor, has appointed Matthew Jefford, an experienced equity markets specialist, as Business Development Executive. Jefford will help accelerate Appital’s growth strategy, specifically working with the asset management community to deepen platform liquidity, and support the firm’s mission to bring innovation and automation to equity markets.

Jefford brings over 30 years of experience working in the global financial markets. Prior to joining Appital, he was Electronic Sales Trader at ICAP and previously worked with Liquidnet, Bloomberg Tradebook and Instinet on Sales, Electronic and Automated Trading, covering clients in the EMEA region.

Persefoni Boss Mohin Chosen to Sit on FCA’s ESG Advisory Board

Tim Mohin, chief executive of data provider Persefoni, is among the sustainability-linked financial figures selected to help shape the UK’s regulatory response to ESG issues. The former Global Reporting Initiative chief will be joined by five other executives on the Financial Conduct Authority’s ESG Advisory Board. They include Harald Walkate, senior fellow at the Center for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth (CSP) at the University of Zurich, and will be complemented by senior FCA figures.