In response to an email inquiry, Pickles says that after his time at BT he is exploring “up-and-coming areas that I’m interested in and that I’ve been working on recently, such as mobility, security and identity management, as well as regulatory impacts on business operations and IT.”

He says that he has also been spending time developing an approach to education about the financial sector and its use of technology for senior management and salespeople. This will help people in the technology world to understand better what their customers do for a living, Pickles adds.

“I’ve got 40 years’ experience in the financial technology sector,” Pickles adds. “I’ve covered almost every sub-sector, and I’ve worked around the world for most kinds of organization, from start-ups and buy-outs to mega-brands and government bodies. I think that being independent will allow me to address more of the areas that interest me internationally and to help more organizations internationally that address the financial sector.”

During his nearly eight years at BT, from 2007 to January 2014, Pickles, in addition to his last post, served as head of marketing —investment banking; and head of marketing — global banking and financial markets, according to his LinkedIn page. Before his time at BT, Pickles was a manager for industry relations at financial services network Radianz Inc., from 2000 to 2007.

On his personal website, http://picklesnet.com/, Pickles says that he has worked in financial services for 28 years, starting in 1986 when he joined Reuters. “With Reuters I worked in head office product marketing and product planning, moved to Paris as a product marketing manager for Western Europe, and then moved to Frankfurt to become marketing manager of Reuters Germany,” he says.

In 1991, Pickles joined the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as manager of exchange products, responsible for the DAX Index and market data products and services, according to his personal website; the Frankfurt exchange later became the Deutsche Börse. “In 1995, I moved to Brussels to take up the role of secretary-general of the European Association of Securities Dealers (EASD), where I helped in the creation of the EASDAQ stock market,” Pickles says on his website. In 1997, he joined Viasoft Inc. to become its international solutions manager.

His path to BT began in 1999 when he joined Equant Network Services, a voice, data and video services provider to be its global marketing manager, financial network. On his website, Pickles says that at Equant he helped create Radianz in 2000 when Reuters and Equant formed the networking services company that caters to financial services firms. Reuters later sold Radianz to BT in 2005.

Custom House Execs to Stay After Merger with TMF Group

Dermot Butler, founder of hedge fund administrator Custom House Global Fund Services, will be stepping down from his role as chairman to become president of the company to come after TMF Group, another fund administrator, acquires the outstanding 49% of Custom House to become the sole owner, officials say.

Once cleared by regulators, the merger will yield a new company, TMF Custom House Global Fund Services. Officials expect the merger to be complete by June 2014.

An industry veteran, Butler launched Custom House in Ireland in 1989. He has appeared as an expert witness testifying on regulatory matters. The company has offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Dublin, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Malta, New York, Singapore and San Francisco. While Butler will have a new post, Mark Hedderman will retain his position as CEO of Custom House along with a key team of executives, officials say. Aside from Custom House, Butler has served as deputy chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association for six years until 2008, officials say.

TMF Group’s newly combined Fund Administration Services, including Custom House, will operate from 14 global locations with nearly $40 billion of assets under administration, officials say.

The acquisition will enable TMF Group to expand its business into the alternative investment sector including private equity and real-estate investment services, officials say. TMF Group Fund Administration Services has offices in Rotterdam, Sydney, Geneva, Sofia and Malta. The merged companies will be offering services and solutions across middle and back office operations.

“As the alternative fund administration sector continues to evolve, the team at Custom House has worked deliberately over the past 25 years to expand both its administration offerings and middle office solutions, culminating in the launch of the Gateway platform in the US last year,” Butler said in a statement.

Lombard Risk Hires from Misys for Global Sales Director

As part of an expansion plan, Lombard Risk Management has hired Simon Parkins from Misys to be global sales director, officials say.

Parkins will direct the expanding field sales operation for the vendor of integrated regulatory reporting, compliance and collateral management solutions. Based in Lombard Risk’s London headquarters, he will be responsible for driving the next phase of sales growth for the company, officials say.

At Misys, Parkins held senior sales and partner directorship roles over the past five years. He also held sales directorship roles at IBM and Oracle, where he helped existing businesses and established new markets.

Fidelity Vet Joins BI-SAM

A 20-year veteran of Fidelity Investments, Jonathan Schapiro has joined BI-SAM as global head of cloud solutions with a remit to further the private cloud offering of the vendor of performance measurement and attribution, risk analytics, composites management and client reporting solutions, officials say.

At Fidelity, Schapiro held senior technology management roles, including head of performance measurement technology with responsibility for delivering fund performance, risk and competitor analysis, officials say. His experience spans the front and middle office, having lead groups responsible for global implementations across portfolio management, research, equity trading and compliance.

Schapiro will be a member of BI-SAM’s executive management committee and will report to Jim Trotter, managing director, performance and reporting services at Lombard Risk. Schapiro will be based in BI-SAM’s Boston office.

Dennis Hastert Among CME’s Board of Director Nominees

Former speaker of the House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert, 72, is among the candidates for the board of directors that CME Group shareholders will be electing at the exchange company’s annual meeting on May 21, 2014, officials say.

In addition to Hastert, the CME board of directors is recommending that Class A and Class B shareholders elect the following individuals to the board:

• Terrence A. Duffy, 55, executive chairman and president, CME Group;
• Phupinder S. Gill, 53, CEO, CME Group;
• Timothy S. Bitsberger, 54, managing director, official institutions FIG coverage group of BNP PNA;
• Charles P. Carey, 60, former vice chairman, CME Group; principal of Henning & Carey Trading Company and Henning-Carey Proprietary Trading;
• Dennis H. Chookaszian, 70, former chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council; former chairman and CEO, CNA Insurance Companies;
• Martin J. Gepsman, 61, independent broker and trader;
• Larry G. Gerdes, 65, general partner of Sand Hill Financial Company and Gerdes Huff Investments;
• Daniel R. Glickman, 69, executive director, Aspen Institute’s Congressional Program; senior fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1995-2001); member of Congress, Kansas (1977-1995);
• Leo Melamed, 81, chairman emeritus, CME Group; chairman and CEO, Melamed and Associates, Inc.
• William P. Miller II, 58, head of asset allocation, Sanabil;
• James E. Oliff, 66, president, FILO Corp.;
• Edemir Pinto, 60, CEO, BM&FBOVESPA;
• Alex J. Pollock, 71, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute; former president and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago;
• John F. Sandner, 72, retired chairman of the board, CME Group; former chairman, E*Trade Futures;
• Terry L. Savage, 69, financial journalist and author, president, Terry Savage Productions;
• William R. Shepard, 67, president and founder, Shepard International, Inc.;
• Dennis A. Suskind, 71, retired partner, Goldman Sachs & Co.

NASDAQ OMX Launches Manila Office

Emanuel Sarte, head of operations, will oversee NASDAQ OMX’s new office in Manila, launched to provide service and support to its global corporate solutions unit, officials say. The Manila office employs a staff of 170 that works with an international team of developers, designers and other service employees and analysts in the US, Europe and South Asia, officials say. The office will provide support 24 x 7, real-time platforms and products for customers worldwide to communicate critical business information to key audiences, including investor relations officers, analysts, the buy-side and media.