Multibank securities lending platform EquiLend has begun live testing with founding institutions and named Brent Bessire and Benjamin Glicher as chief operating officer and chief technology officer, respectively. Both appointments are effective immediately.
EquiLend, formed to develop a global securities lending platform, was announced in May by a consortium of leading financial institutions. Founding members are Barclays Global Investors, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, State Street, and UBS Warburg.
In his new role, Bessire will be responsible for formalising the infrastructure of the company, and will work with platform participants to provide them with integration and on-going support.
He joins EquiLend from IntlTrader.com where was COO and managing director. Prior to this, Bessire was executive vice president of Discover Brokerage (formally Lombard Brokerage).
Glicher is charged with developing EquiLend's platform and working with key technology vendors. He was formerly a managing director in the PricewaterhouseCoopers financial services technology practice.
EquiLend is also reporting it has completed development of its global platform and is currently undergoing testing with the company's ten founding firms. The company says it remains on track to go live with phase one in the first half of 2002. Phase one functionality of the platform will include: availabililty, auto-borrow, one-to-one negotiations and comparisons in contract, billing and mark-to-market.