Michel Marks, Joel Faber, and Joseph Cicchetti were elected to newly created positions as equity holder representatives. John McNamara was elected to complete a two-year term in the futures commission merchant category and Melvyn Falis was elected to complete a one-year term as a public director.
Mr. Marks, who was elected to a three-year term, was chairman of the Exchange from 1978 to 1987, a period which included the introduction of heating oil, gasoline, and crude oil futures trading and energy options trading. In 1987, he was named the oil man of the year. The founder and former president of MercOil Corp, a floor brokerage company, he is currently on the board of directors of Petroleum Argus, Inc., Paris Foods Corp., and the British American Educational Foundation and previously served on the board of The Working Playground. He also spent three years as president of the New Jersey Monmouth County Arts Council, from 1990 to 1993.
Mr. Faber, a former executive committee member and two-term board member, was elected to a two-year term. He was instrumental in the formation of the original heating oil contract. As one of the first traders in the heating oil pit, Mr. Faber founded Faber's Futures, Inc., which grew to become one of the leading floor brokerage operations on the Exchange in the mid-1980s, trading on behalf of major oil and gasoline companies. He has been active in various committees at the Exchange, including acting as chairman of the heating oil advisory, crude oil advisory, propane advisory, arbitration, marketing, and management audit committees and currently as a member of the membership and arbitration committees.
Mr. Cicchetti, elected to a one-year term, has traded commodities on the Exchange as a local and floor broker for more than 27 years. He developed the Tradewise Technical System for the education of professional ring traders and brokers, and created "MarketWatch" a technical trading report used by over 400 New York Mercantile Exchange traders daily. In 1977, he developed advanced technical concepts and strategies for trading commodities and stocks. With. He is a member of the Exchange's training and education and technology committees and also served for many years as a member of the business conduct committee and floor committee. He also has introducing broker affiliations with members of the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. He is currently trading, managing, and consulting with futures and NASDAQ day trading operations.
Mr. McNamara, a vice president for Bank One, is an experienced options broker who has worked for both large and small clearinghouses, including ABN Amro, ED&F Man, DE Jones, Citibank, and T&S Commodities. He started as an options broker on COMEX in 1983 and was brought over to the Exchange by T&S Commodities to start its energy options operation when crude oil options began trading in 1986. He is a member of the Exchange adjudication, floor, settlement, facilities, and technology committees. He is also a pilot and a partner in an aerobatic flight school and holds a bachelor of science degree in general science from Fordham University with a minor in philosophy.
Mr. Falis has been associated with the Exchange for more than 20 years. As general counsel of the Exchange, he was a principal author of the heating oil contract. Prior to working for the Exchange, he was employed by one of the largest futures commission merchants and appeared before the House and Senate to testify on changes in business outlook and commented on various business proposals offered by Congress on both commodities and securities. He is a public director of the Commodity Floor Brokers & Traders Association. He has represented the CFBTA with the various exchanges as well as the CFTC and National Futures Association.
Exchange Chairman Vincent Viola said, "I have known and respected each of these individuals for many years and look forward to working with them at the board level."
