The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced four new industry leaders are joining the DTCC Board of Directors.
The new directors include: Mark Alexander, managing director and head of Global Operations, Merrill Lynch & Co.; Ian T. Lowitt, co-chief administrative officer, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.; Louis G. Pastina, executive vice president of NYSE Operations, NYSE Euronext; and Neeraj Sahai, managing director and global head of Securities and Fund Services, Citi.
The 2008 DTCC Board will be made up of 21 directors, serving one-year terms. Seventeen directors are representatives of clearing agency participants, including international broker/dealers, correspondent and clearing banks, mutual fund companies and investment banks. Two directors are designated by the preferred shareholders, NYSE Euronext and FINRA, and the remaining two are the chairman and chief executive officer and the president of DTCC. All of the Board members except those designated by the preferred shareholders are elected annually.
"Our Board represents some of the world's leading banks, broker/dealers and mutual fund companies, and our new directors bring unique strengths and backgrounds to this role," said Donald F. Donahue, chairman and CEO of DTCC. "Their extensive experience in global operations and risk management will provide valued insight and guidance to DTCC as we continue to grow our businesses."
Individuals are nominated for election as directors based on their ability to represent DTCC's diverse base of participants, and Board committees are specifically structured to help achieve this objective. In addition, to ensure broad industry representation and expertise on key industry subjects, industry representatives that are non-Board members serve on a number of DTCC Board committees.
Earlier this year, Diane L. Schueneman, senior vice president, head of Global Infrastructure Solutions, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Douglas H. Shulman, vice chairman, FINRA, and Duncan L. Niederauer, President and co-Chief Operating Officer, NYSE Euronext, retired from DTCC's board.
Brief biograpbiographies of the new directors follow:
Mark Alexander
Mark Alexander is a managing director at Merrill Lynch and head of Business Infrastructure and Controls and the Direct Division for the Global Wealth Management ("GWM") business. He is also head of Global Operations and Services for Merrill Lynch & Co., where he is responsible for worldwide operations and client services for Global Markets and GWM.
Alexander's 17-year career at Merrill Lynch includes leadership positions in Global Private Client Services, Global Transaction and Custody Services, Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Global Equities Operations, Fixed Income Operations and Institutional Client Services.
Alexander joined Merrill Lynch in 1991 after seven years at Deloitte & Touche, where he was a manager and Certified Public Accountant working on a variety of auditing and consulting engagements in the financial services industry.
Alexander previously served as a director on the Boards of Euroclear, LCH.Clearnet, the European Securities Clearing Corporation, the Participants' Trust Company, where he was chairman in 1995/1996, and for DTCC's subsidiary, the Government Securities Clearing Corporation. He has also served on various industry committees over the years, including DTCC's Planning Committees for Equity Operations and Fixed Income Operations, the Securities Industry Association's STP Executive Committee, the European Securities Forum Executive Committee, CREST's Strategic Advisory Committee, and the Bond Markets Association's MBS Executive Committee, MBS Operations Committee, where he was Chairman in 1993/1994, and Government Securities Operations Committee.
Alexander has a B.B.A. in Accounting, graduating magna cum laude, from Hofstra University and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University's Stern School of Business. He has also attended various executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School and holds NASD licenses in Series 7, 24, 27 and 63.
Ian T. Lowitt
Ian T. Lowitt is an executive vice president of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and has been co-chief administrative officer since October 2006. In this role, he is responsible for the global oversight of Corporate Real Estate, Expense and Sourcing Services, Finance, Operations, Productivity and Process Improvements, Risk Management and Technology.
Prior to his current role, Lowitt was the chief administrative officer of Lehman Brothers Europe. He has also served as global Treasurer and global head of Tax, and chairman of Lehman Brothers Bank FSB, the firm's Delaware-based savings bank. Before becoming global Treasurer, he was the firm's head of Strategy and Corporate Development.
Lowitt joined Lehman Brothers in 1994 from McKinsey and Company, where he served as an engagement manager advising clients in a number of industries, including financial services, electronics and information technology.
Lowitt has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Digital Electronics from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He also has a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and an M.S. in Economics from the University of Oxford. At Oxford, Lowitt was a Rhodes-Scholar.
Louis G. Pastina
Louis G. Pastina is executive vice president of NYSE Operations, NYSE Euronext.
In this position, Pastina is responsible for the NYSE Cash Market Operations including the NYSE Trading Floor. In addition Pastina is managing the architectural upgrade to the NYSE trading systems. He previously oversaw the development and implementation of the NYSE Hybrid MarketSM and coordinated all planning efforts to support it, from sales to operations.
Pastina was senior vice president, Market Development and Next Generation Trading Project and was responsible for the Point of Sale study that helped inform the Hybrid Market design. He was responsible for the redesign of the NYSE Display Book, which is currently integrated into the Hybrid Market.
Prior to that, Pastina was vice president of Development Planning for all Trading Floor technologies in support of the Point-of-Sale, including specialist, broker, and customer technologies. He was instrumental in the development of the Broker Booth Support System and the Exchange's handheld computer program, e-Broker. His responsibilities included managing the Post Trade systems, SuperDot, Capacity Planning, and Technology Marketing.
Pastina joined the NYSE in 1983 as a senior planner in the Options business, and became manager, Options Administration, in 1985. Transferring to the Fixed-Income business in 1986, he served as Director, Fixed-Income Markets. In 1989, Pastina became managing director of the Equity Business Development team and developed and introduced the NYSE Crossing Sessions. In 1993, he developed the Exchange's Broker Booth Support System and later the broker hand-held computer system. He was promoted in 1999 to vice president, Point of Sale Trading Systems.
Prior to joining the Exchange, Pastina was a senior auditor and financial analyst at CIT Financial Corp.
Pastina graduated from St. Francis College of Brooklyn. He passed the CPA exam in 1986.
Neeraj Sahai
Neeraj Sahai is the global head of Securities and Fund Services, Citi. Sahai is also a member of Citi's Management Committee, Citi Markets & Banking's Planning Committee, and Citi's Global Transaction Services Management Committee.
Prior to assuming his current role, Sahai was chief financial officer of Global Transaction Services, overseeing finance, risk, control, treasury and strategy and M&A, among other areas of the business. Immediately prior to this assignment, he was head of Citi's Audit & Risk Review group for Markets & Banking.
Sahai has been with Citi for more than 23 years, starting as a management associate in 1984. His previous assignments include managing director for Cross Border Custody and Securities Lending; director, Strategy Implementation (Worldwide Securities Services); Global Transaction Services head (India); business manager, Cash Management (India); and relationship and risk manager in Financial Services and Corporate Banking.