Morgan Stanley’s global head of equity trading, Peter Santoro, is leaving the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. Media reports have said he is joining hedge fund Millennium, replacing Hyung Soon Lee, the firm’s former equity chief, according to the people. Following Santoro’s departure, Morgan Stanley has appointed Alan Thomas as its new head of equities, for the Americas. He previously served as co-head of prime brokerage and led Morgan Stanley’s financing business.
Also at the firm, Mike Wilson – now chief investment officer for its wealth management unit – will also be its chief U.S. equity strategist. Wilson will replace Adam Parker, who is moving to Eminence Capital to become its director of quantitative strategy. Parker had been in a similar role at Morgan Stanley.
Law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP today announced that Mary Jo White, former Securities and Exchange Chair from April 2013 to January 2017 I returning to the private sector and practice law as and serve as Senior Chair of the firm. She was Chair of Debevoises Litigation Department from 2002 to 2013, prior to which she served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York for nearly nine years. Whites practice will focus on counseling boards of directors and representing clients on significant and sensitive matters, including companies facing crises involving multi-faceted government investigations and cases. Her arrival follows the announcement that Andrew J. Ceresney will also rejoin Debevoise after serving under White as the Director of the Division of Enforcement at the SEC.
Whites pedigree aside from serving as the only woman to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, includes serving as the Chair of Attorney General Janet Renos Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys. Prior to becoming the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, she served as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Acting U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York from 1990 to 1993.
Relatedly, former Associate Director of SEC Enforcement Division Stephen Cohen has joined Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C. Cohen will be a member of the firms Securities & Derivatives Enforcement and Regulatory practice. During his tenure with the SEC, he oversaw domestic and international enforcement activities involving accounting and disclosure fraud, auditor misconduct, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, insider trading, registered and unregistered securities offerings, market abuses, broker-dealers, investment advisers and other regulated entities. Prior to serving as Associate Director in the SECs Enforcement Division, he served as Senior Adviser to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, advising on policy and administrative matters focused mostly on enforcement and compliance issues, legislative matters and congressional hearings. Cohen started his career as a federal district court law clerk before joining the Department of Justice as a trial attorney in the Attorney Generals Honors Program. He also handled litigation matters and government investigations at a national law firm.
CLS Group (CLS), a leading provider of risk mitigation and operational services for the global foreign exchange (FX) market, has appointed Gaynor Wood to the role of General Counsel. Gaynor succeeds Alan Marquard, who has led both CLSs Legal division and the Corporate Strategy and Development (CSD) division. She joined CLS in November 2013 as Head of the London Legal team. Gaynor has held positions within the legal departments of a number of major investment banks in London. Prior to joining CLS, Gaynor was a Director and Associate General Counsel at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, with primary responsibility for legal support of the rates and FX business lines.
She reports to David Puth, CEO of CLS and becomes a member of CLSs Executive Management Committee.
If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com
JonesTrading Institutional Services hired David Walrod for its New York office as a Managing Director. Walrod will focus his research on Financial Services, beginning with mortgage REITs, and expanding over time. JonesTrading research provides portfolio managers and traders with market color and information that aid in developing investment strategies. With over 20 years experience, he was an Equity Research Analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann, a Financial Sector Specialist at JP Morgan and a Senior Equity Analyst at Ridgeworth Capital Management. He began his career as an Equity Analyst at Keybanc Capital Markets.
Babelfish Analytics hired Mitch Pineault to lead its newly formed TCA offering. Also, the firm snagged Ian Weisberger to its lead technology effort. Pineault onboards as Head of Business Strategy and be responsible for new business development, brand marketing, and creating strategic partnerships. He has spent the past 16 years building products to make the markets more transparent, most recently producing trading solutions at Weeden. Prior to Weeden, Pineault was a founding employee at Liquidnet.
Weisberger joins as Vice President of Engineering to lead its technology effort. He has spent several years as a lead technologist at several startup firms. Ian brings a wealth of systems architecture design expertise to the Clarity technology effort.
Chatham Financial, a vendor of debt and derivatives solutions, hired Alan DePonceau, a vet with 35 years of experience in the FXIP market helping clients effectively manage FX risk and maximize profit. Prior to joining Chatham, he served as Founder & Principal at AMD Consulting, following roles at Susquehanna Bank, Commerce Bank, Travelex, and Citibank. Additionally, Mr. DePonceau co-founded the Regional Bank FX Forum.
Goldman Sachs prime brokerage executive director Emma Stevens has left the investment bank after 14 years. Stevens left this month having worked in hedge fund consulting within the prime brokerage department at Goldman for seven years since January 2010. She joined Goldman in December 2002 and worked as a compliance officer with the firm between December 2002 and December 2009. It is unknown what Stevens next move is or if anyone has replaced her at Goldman. A spokesperson declined to comment on her exit.
Andres Choussy has left his position as head of derivatives clearing for the Americas at JP Morgan. He will be succeeded in the role by Paul Davidson, who will be now be responsible for listed futures and options clearing, OTC credit and rates clearing and credit, FX and rates intermediation. Davidson will be based in New York and report into Nick Rustad, global head of clearing at JP Morgan. Davison has been with JP Morgan since 1999, initially spending six years on the floor of the CME in Chicago working on the equity execution desk, before joining the execution team in New York.
Agency-focused broker Convergex hired Robin Strong as a Managing Director. Strong is based out of the firms London-based office brokerage and will be responsible for expanding the firms broad range of commission management, research payment and outsourcing services to buy and sell-side investment firms on a global basis. A 25-year financial industry veteran, his responsibilities include delivering Westminster Research Associates unbundling and MiFID II compliant solutions to its growing European client-base. Prior to joining Convergex, he founded The Investment Data Utility and previously worked at Linedata. Strong started his career at Salomon Brothers in London and has also held senior positions at Fidessa, Charles River Development, Citadel Associates and Asset Control.
