The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced today that Donald F. Donahue has been elected by DTCC's Board of Directors to become chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), effective August 2007.
Donahue was elected CEO last year.
The Board also elected William B. Aimetti as president and chief operating officer (COO) of DTCC. Aimetti was elected COO last year. His new appointment will also be effective August 2007.
Both Donahue and Aimetti will serve as directors on DTCC's Board.
Jill M. Considine, DTCC's current chairman, will be stepping down in August, as part of a long-term corporate succession plan that she introduced. The Board has asked Considine to continue to serve DTCC as senior advisor.
"This decision is part of a prudent, long-term effort to ensure a phased-in succession plan that's in keeping with our responsibility for certainty and reliability in post-trade clearance and settlement, and that positions the organization for the future," said Considine. "Don Donahue and Bill Aimetti are enormously talented executives and proven leaders, who have played a major role in building DTCC into the world's largest post-trade infrastructure."
In addition to his new role at DTCC, the holding company, Donahue will become chairman and CEO of its core subsidiaries: National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC), The Depository Trust Company (DTC) and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC). Aimetti will likewise become president and COO of DTCC, as well as its core subsidiaries.
"The Board would like to publicly acknowledge and thank Jill Considine for her terrific leadership of DTCC. Jill took on this role during a period of tremendous change in the securities industry. Through her vision and steady hand, she led the historic drive to consolidate several clearing corporations serving vertical markets and a depository into a single infrastructure organization, known as DTCC. This has saved the industry hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs and fee reductions-and has helped to ensure that U.S. capital markets are among the most competitive in the world," said Stephen P. Casper, presiding director of DTCC's Board and chai chairman and CEO of Fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Inc.
"Jill's accomplishments at DTCC are numerous. They include her stewardship on September 11, 2001, when she made the tough decision to keep DTCC open, only ten blocks from the World Trade Center, to ensure $280 billion in securities transactions were settled that day and $1.8 trillion were settled that week. Her actions during that period were critical to the reopening of the U.S. financial markets the following week, and to sustaining global confidence in the resiliency of U.S. capital markets.
"She has also played a major role in transforming DTCC's organizational culture to one of certainty, and with a commitment to quality, innovation and dedication to its customers and employees. Last year, DTCC received a 91% overall customer satisfaction survey score, the third year in a row customers gave the company such high scores. Jill has also expanded DTCC's business activities into the OTC derivatives market, led the launch of Omgeo (a joint venture with Thomson Financial) and has positioned the company to be a global service provider that is able to respond to the challenges that such globalization will inevitably bring. Her efforts to put forward a multi-year succession plan for DTCC underscores the type of forward-thinking leadership that remains her legacy," said Casper.
Background on Donald F. Donahue
Donahue is a 20-year veteran of DTCC and DTC. Since May 2005, he has served as CEO of DTCC. Prior to that, he was COO of DTCC since 2003. Donahue headed DTCC's Customer Marketing and Development Division, with responsibility for strategic planning, product development, relationship management, applications development and technology from 2000 to 2003. At DTC, he served as chief information officer from 1997 to 2000 and as head of the depository's Operations Division from 1995 to 1997. He joined DTC in 1986 and has held positions in a variety of areas.
Prior to joining DTC, Donahue was president of a company that developed and marketed credit enhancements for municipal securities from 1985 to 1986.
Before that, he worked for the Municipal Rulemaking Board, the self-regulatory organization governing the U.S. municipal securities markets, from 1977 to 1985. He began his career working for Barr Brothers & Co., Inc., for five years, as a broker/dealer specializing in municipal securities. Donahue has a B.A.
degree in history from Columbia University.
In May 2004, Donahue was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to serve as Sector Coordinator and Chairman of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC) for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security. FSSCC coordinates the private sector's preparation and sharing of best practices across the financial services industry to address events that could disrupt the normal business of the financial sector, such as cyber attacks, natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
Background on William B. Aimetti
Aimetti, a well-known and respected industry veteran, has served as DTCC's COO since May 2006. Prior to that, he was chief information officer from April 2003.
Aimetti joined DTCC in July 2000 as a managing director and chief administrative officer to oversee all operations and quality initiatives for the company's two subsidiaries, NSCC and DTC.
Prior to joining DTCC, Aimetti was associated with Nomura Holdings America, Inc./Nomura Securities International, Inc., where he was executive managing director - Operations, Technology and Corporate Services. Aimetti also served as president and CEO of Nomura International Trust Company, a subsidiary of Nomura Holdings America. He joined Nomura in 1994. Previously, he was a division executive for Citibank where he was responsible for all operations and technology for the North American Global Finance Division. In addition, he has served as a key member of the Operations Divisions of both the Securities Industry Association (now SIFMA) and the New York Clearing House. He was also a board member of Cedel (now Clearstream).
Aimetti is a member of the Board of Regents of Seton Hall University and serves on an affiliated Board of Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, N.J.
Aimetti holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Seton Hall University and an M.S. degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.