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OneChicago, LLC (OCX), an equity finance exchange, today announced it has named Waseem Barazi as Chief Regulatory Officer. In this new role, Mr. Barazi is responsible for providing strategic leadership and counsel on all regulatory, compliance and commodities and securities law issues for the firm, and will serve as the exchange’s primary liaison to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Based in Chicago, he reports to the Regulatory Oversight Committee of OneChicago and David G. Downey, OneChicago’ s Chief Executive Officer.
“We are thrilled to be able to name Waseem to this position,” said Mr. Downey. “While Waseem brings an extremely high intellect and a background in law and compliance, it is his self-propelled personality and understanding of technology that makes him ideally suited to this new job.”
Mr. Barazi, who had previously been Director of Market Regulation, first joined OneChicago in 2011, providing legal research and analysis regarding the exchange’s regulatory and compliance functions. In 2012, he participated in the Summer Honors Law Program with the SEC in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. He subsequently joined the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where he was responsible for surveilling and analyzing market data, as well as conducting investigations of potential violations of FINRA rules and federal securities laws.
“OneChicago is a growing equity finance exchange operating in an evolving regulatory landscape, and I’m looking forward to helping the firm navigate those changes while continuing to maintain its regulatory and compliance efforts,” said Mr. Barazi. “As derivatives transactions increasingly move from the OTC space to exchanges like OneChicago as a result of Dodd-Frank, it is imperative that we uphold the principles of transparency and regulatory compliance our customers seek when utilizing our exchange-traded futures products.”
Mr. Barazi is a 2009 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he received his bachelor’s degree in economics. He is also a 2013 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor. Mr. Barazi is licensed to practice law in Illinois.
