Eric Litvack Elected as Chairman of ISDA, Succeeding Stephen O’Connor

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has appointed Eric Litvack as its newest Chairman of its Board of Directors, succeeding Stephen O’Connor as of January 1, 2015.

Presently, Mr. Litvack serves as the Managing Director and Head of Regulatory Strategy for Société Générale’s Global Banking and Investor Solutions operations. He has held this role at Société Générale for nearly three decades, in addition to a variety of other roles.

Mr. Litvack has been on the ISDA board since 2006 and was appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Board in 2012. He will be succeeding Stephen O’Connor, a fellow Board member since 2008, who is relinquishing the role to focus more on ISDA’s strategic initiatives.

During Mr. O’Connor’s tenure as Chairman, ISDA led the industry through many transformational events, such as the adoption and implementation of clearing, trade reporting and trade Execution Execution Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Read this Term mandates, benchmark reform, margin requirements for non-cleared swaps, and more recently, measures designed to reduce the risk that market participants are ‘too big to fail’.

According to Scott O’Malia, ISDA’s Chief Executive Officer, in a recent statement on the appointment, “Steve has been a terrific leader of and ambassador for ISDA over the past few years. I have had the opportunity to work with him while at the CFTC and then since joining ISDA this past August. We thank him for his many contributions.

“I look forward to working closely with Eric Litvack on the key issues in our markets, including the new capital framework, margin requirements for non-cleared swaps, cross-border harmonization and trade execution rules. He and I share a common vision that ISDA has a vital role to play in ensuring the global derivatives markets remain safe, efficient and liquid so that firms around the world are able to manage their risks. ISDA will undoubtedly benefit greatly from his experience and expertise,” added Mr. O’Malia in an accompanying statement.

“It has been a great privilege to serve as ISDA’s chair. The past three years have been a period of great change and progress for ISDA, and I am proud to have played a part in it. ISDA’s work in documentation, netting, Risk Management Risk Management One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, Read this Term, capital, margin, policy, education and advocacy remain very important for market participants. And with the significant amount of expertise we offer on a broad range of derivatives issues, ISDA remains an important resource for policy-makers,” reiterated Stephen O’Connor, who has been Chairman since 2011.

According to Mr. Litvack, “As I take on this new role, I would also like to thank Steve O’Connor for his leadership of ISDA over the past few years. He has played an important role at ISDA and we wish him well in the future.”