Omgeo Replaces Chief Compliance Officer
Post-trade services provider Omgeo has hired industry veteran Jeannie Shanahan to be its new managing director of governance, risk management and compliance replacing Kara L. Hill, who left her post as chief compliance officer to be vice president and deputy general auditor for the DTCC, confirm Omgeo officials. Hill joined the DTCC in January after 13 years with Omgeo.
Shanahan will focus on developing risk-based compliance programs that support Omgeo’s efforts to reduce operational and counterparty risk and promote regulatory compliance, say Omgeo officials. In particular, she will focus on compliance with anti-money laundering/OFAC mandates, insider trading, records retention and anti-bribery/corruption laws and regulation. Shanahan will also oversee Omgeo’s SSAE 16 compliance through control testing and reporting.
Shanahan, who has 25 years of experience, most recently was a credit risk director for State Street Global Advisors, where she developed and executed global credit risk programs. Before State Street, Shanahan held senior management positions at Fidelity Investments and Bank of Boston.
Nomura Research Institute Fills Division Manager Post
Technology solutions and services consultant provider Nomura Research Institute has promoted Yasuki Okai to the position of senior managing director and financial technology solution division manager, say NRI officials.
Okai will focus on growing NRI’s business across the capital markets sector via solutions that help clients remain compliant with the changing regulatory landscape, say NRI officials. Okai will oversee the division and report to senior executive vice president and member of the board Keiichi Ishibashi.
“Okai has worked with multiple departments at NRI with proven success, including in operations and risk management,” says Tadashi Shimamoto, president and CEO of NRI in a prepared statement.
Okai joined NRI in 1988 and has held various senior roles at the firm, including his recent position as the head of the Financial Technology and Market Research Department and Investment Information Systems Business Department, NRI officials say.
eFront Adds to Management Team
To cope with the growth that comes with 70 new customers, eFront has added a chief operating officer, a vice president for services and support and an independent, non-executive director, say officials at the software vendor for managing alternative investments.
The new executives are chief operating officer Paul Wheeler and vice president global services and support Richard Watrasiewicz, and for the board of directors Kirsten English, officials say. acquiring the market-leading investor portal platform, Investment Café, releasing a new version of FrontInvest, and continuing to expand throughout Asia, Europe and North America via new offices and clients.
The new COO Wheeler will manage eFront’s global operations and corporate finance, marketing, R&D, IT and human resources, officials say. He has previously held senior leadership positions at Wall Street Systems, Trema, Geac, and Baan. Watrasiewicz, who is responsible for solution delivery and support operations globally, managed the professional services organizations at financial technology vendors Temenos, Misys and Odyssey.
As a non-executive director, English will join the company’s board of directors, providing strategic thinking and guidance to the management and the board, officials say. With more than 25 years of experience in the industry, English has worked with several financial technology growth companies as a director including Birdstep Technology and Contis Group.
Markit Acquires DTCC Unit and Staff
Financial data services vendor Markit has acquired the assets and staff of the DTCC’s Global Corporate Actions Validation Service, say Markit officials. The validation service team researches, validates and confirms corporate actions. Markit is using the acquisition to expand Markit’s reference data offering and the vendor’s ability to provide managed services to global financial markets.
“The GCA team is coming to Markit and staff will be joining our London and NY offices,” says a Markit spokesperson, adding that current GCA customers will experience “no changes throughout the transition.”
Brokerage firms, banks, hedge funds, investment managers and service providers use the outsourced GCA service to help them accurately process corporate actions, say Markit officials. More than 50 types of corporate action announcements in equities, bonds and structured products are accessible via the GCA service.
The management and validation of corporate actions is intended to help firms achieve operational efficiencies, less risk and lower fixed costs, officials say. The current GCA product line is “very strong and is attractive to us based on its current merits,” the spokesperson adds. “Over time we will expand the service with new datasets and other enhancements.”
The validation service will offer the @Source corporate actions data for North America from the DTCC. Data flows from incumbent suppliers IDC and Six Financial Information will also be offered, say Markit officials. In fact, Markit will add more data sources such as Euroclear Bank’s corporate actions data for Eurobonds to the GCA database. Markit has been distributing Euroclear Bank Eurobond data via a partnership the two companies established last year.
“GCA will operate much like it does today. Over time, we will expand the service with new datasets and other enhancements,” says Markit’s spokesperson. Other Markit managed solutions include an outsourced service for portfolio management that specializes in syndicated loans, structured products and other assets with complex cash flows.
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