Two industry leaders, each with more than 20 years experience working in Europe, have been named to lead European Central Counterparty Limited (EuroCCP). Diana Chan, a former executive at Citi, has been named as the new permanent Chief Executive Officer of EuroCCP, and Trevor Spanner, a former executive at Merrill Lynch, has been named Chief Operating Officer.
EuroCCP was named to provide clearing and settlement services for the new pan-European market created by Turquoise, a consortium of nine major global investment banks in Europe. This new multilateral trading facility is expected to begin operations next year, and will trade the most liquid traded equity securities in Europe. EuroCCP will use Citi’s Global Transaction Services as its settlement agent.
“We are delighted to have someone with Diana Chan’s global experience leading EuroCCP,” said Donald F. Donahue, DTCC’s chairman and chief executive officer. “She has been a well-regarded leader on industry issues involving improving the efficiencies of the capital markets and clearing and settlement in Europe. She has worked for both Citi and Euroclear, and has been active in a number of committees and organizations in Europe focused on the changes occurring in clearing and settlement.
“We are also pleased to have an executive of Trevor’s talent and broad background as COO for EuroCCP. Under the leadership of these two executives, we believe EuroCCP will achieve our goal to help lower costs for clearing and settlement throughout Europe,” Donahue noted.
“This is a terrific opportunity,” said Chan, “to help EuroCCP bring about greater efficiency in Europe. The challenge here is to make sure that there is sufficient competition, based on initiatives such as MiFID, the Code of Conduct and TARGET2 Securities, so that economies of scale and savings can be passed through to the investors. I believe EuroCCP can serve as a catalyst in helping move Europe forward in meeting these challenges.”
Donahue noted that, “EuroCCP has achieved considerable progress to-date in developing the technology we need to make EuroCCP functional. Most of the systems development, risk management procedures and business process flows have been completed at this point, our application with the FSA to receive the necessary designation as a Recognised Clearing House in the UK is pending, and we’ve worked closely with Citi to prepare for the settlement of these transactions.
“Since Turquoise has now chosen the trading platform, we will speed the process along. Rick Macek, interim CEO, and his team have done a great job to this point, and we are now prepared to have two seasoned executives take over, who know and understand intimately the concerns of customers in Europe.”
The appointment of Spanner is effective immediately, while Chan will take over as CEO of EuroCCP in mid-November. Chan will report directly to Michael Bodson, Executive Managing Director, DTCC Business Management, Strategy and Marketing, and Spanner will report to Chan. Richard R. Macek, who had been serving as the interim CEO for EuroCCP since it was formed, will return to the U.S.
