News Nuggets | 10 October: Exec Moves in Symphony, Axi and RJO; Charges for BBY CEO

Wall Street Veteran Moves to Symphony

Bryan Christian, the Director of LMAX Group in the USA, has changed his post this month, joining Symphony as the Head of Business Development.

"I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Head of Business Development at Symphony,” Christian wrote on his LinkedIn profile.

In the past, he was associated with CrossTower as the Head of Exchange, Cboe Global Markets as the SVP Head of US Sales and Nasdaq as the Managing Director.

R.J. O’Brien Announces Key Executive Promotions

Chicago-based R.J. O’Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the US, has promoted Matt Heidkamp to Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for its US operations. At the same time, Gemma Lloyd was promoted to COO for the company's EMEA affiliate, R.J. O’Brien Limited.

Both Heidkamp and Lloyd bring extensive experience to their new roles, with Heidkamp having nearly 29 years of experience at RJO in trading and operations, and Lloyd joining earlier this year with over 25 years in client service and sales management roles in the listed derivatives sector.

Axi Eelevates Ton to Head of RPA

In a separate move, Axi has informed that Jonny Leon Tong was promoted to Head of Robotic and Programming Automation (RPA). Tong joined Axi back in 2017 as the Head of Client Services and worked as the General Manager, Head of Financial Operations, and Head of Global Middle Office.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Head of Robotic Programming Automation (RPA) at Axi,” Tong commented.

Former CEO of BBY Charged with Fraud

Arunesh Narain Maharaj, the former CEO of the stockbroking firm BBY Limited, has been charged with aiding and abetting fraud, the Australian ASIC informed. The charges allege that Maharaj assisted another former BBY employee in dishonestly obtaining financial advantages from St George Bank, a division of Westpac Banking Corporation. The alleged fraudulent activities took place at the end of June 2013 and from November 2014 to early 2015.

The case has been postponed for reconsideration on 5 December 2023. It is being handled by the Director of the Australian Commonwealth Prosecution Service. He may carry a maximum penalty of 10 year’s imprisonment.

HIVE Digital Ventures into AI and HPC

HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. has announced an update on its High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure projects. The company is converting its 38,000 Nvidia data center GPU cards, previously used for mining Ethereum, into an on-demand GPU cloud service. They aim to have 3,200 GPUs operational in the AI/HPC space by the end of October.

HIVE's HPC and AI business is currently generating 15 times more revenue than Bitcoin on a per-megawatt basis. The company is optimistic about the growing demand in the GPU cloud market, citing a report by Goldman Sachs and Fortune Business Insights that predicts significant growth in the sector.

UK Investment Management Industry Holds Strong Despite Challenges

The UK investment management industry has seen a decline in Assets under Management (AuM) to £8.8 trillion in 2022, according to the Investment Association’s latest survey. This decline is attributed to various factors, including the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, and political changes in the UK. Despite these challenges, the industry continues to be a global success.

The UK managed £4.6 trillion for local retail and institutional investors and an additional £4.2 trillion for overseas investors. Of these overseas assets, £2.4 trillion is managed for European customers, £845 billion for North American customers, and an increasing proportion for Asian customers, which now stands at 16% of AUM (£680 billion).