In other People Moves, there’s a new deputy chair at Barclays and new head of SEC’s L.A. exam program.
Convergex Names Ops and Strategic Planning Head
Jason Emerson, managing director and head of operations and strategic planning, Convergex
New York-based Convergex, an agency-focused brokerage and trading-related services provider, reports that Jason Emerson has been named managing director and head of operations and strategic planning.
In this new position, he will be “responsible for overseeing the firm’s global operational initiatives,” according to a statement, which notes also that he will be a member of the Convergex executive committee and will play an “instrumental role in developing Convergex’s overall business strategy.”
Emerson joins with nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, according to Convergex. “His areas of expertise include business and project management, strategic planning and financial regulation. He most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at Gain Capital and has held various senior positions at firms including: Knight Capital Group, Instinet, Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers.”
Barclays Names New Director and Deputy Chair
Sir Gerry Grimstone, senior independent director and deputy chairman, Barclays
Barclays plc and Barclays Bank plc report that Sir Gerry Grimstone will succeed Sir Michael Rake as senior independent director and deputy chairman. The appointment becomes effective at the beginning of the New Year.
Rake steps down after eight years as a Barclays director, according to a statement.
Grimstone has been chairman of Standard Life plc since May 2007, having previously been appointed deputy chairman in March 2006, and is also an independent non-executive board member of Deloitte LLP and the lead non-executive at the UK’s Ministry of Defense, according to the Barclays statement, which notes also that he “spent 13 years with Schroders in London, Hong Kong and New York, and was vice chairman of Schroders’ worldwide investment banking activities.”
Since Schroders, he has served on the boards of Bridgewell Group Ltd., F&C Global Smaller Companies plc and more recently of Wilmington Capital Ltd., Candover Investments plc and TheCityUK. He is also an Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, officials say.
Grimstone’s other, public sector positions, include posts at the Department of Health and HM Treasury, and on the boards of various companies, including Aggregate Industries plc and Dairy Crest plc, as well as on the governing bodies of the Financial Services Trade and Investment Board and the Shareholder Executive, Barclays notes.
“I am particularly looking forward to supporting John McFarlane and Jes Staley [the chairman and new CEO, respectively] as they seek to complete the cultural transformation of Barclays and accelerate the delivery of sustainable shareholder returns,” Grimstone says in the statement.
SEC Names New Head of L.A. Exam Program
The SEC reports that it has named Bryan Bennett to lead the examination program in its Los Angeles regional office. Bennett moves up from the assistant director post in the L.A. program that he’s held since January.
As director, he will “oversee the SEC’s exam program in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam with a staff of approximately 60 examiners, accountants and attorneys,” the commission says in a statement.
He joined the SEC’s Los Angeles office in 2008 as an examiner, was named an exam manager, and led “numerous teams in the investment adviser and investment company examination program,” according to the statement.
“During his tenure, exam findings by the teams led to significant enforcement actions, including a case charging a Santa Monica, California-based hedge fund manager with fraud in a multi-million dollar cherry picking scheme, and a case against an investment adviser for promoting a wealth management strategy that he falsely claimed had been empirically back tested,” SEC officials say.
Bennett has four years of litigation experience in the private sector, the SEC also notes.
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