RJ O’Brien, the largest US futures broker, has hired MF Global’s compliance counsel Nancy Westwick as its first chief compliance officer.

The Dodd-Frank Act enshrines an important role for CCOs, with significant – some say heavy – responsibilities.

She has previously been assistant general counsel for Lind-Waldock, the futures broker owned by MF Global, and associate general counsel of Refco.

Westwick has served for a decade on the Futures and Derivatives Committee of the Chicago Bar Association, and chaired it from 2005 to 2006.

She has also been an active member of CME Group’s Business Conduct and Probable Cause Committees since 2007.

Meanwhile, the Options Clearing Corporation has promoted its deputy general counsel, Jean Cawley, to the new role of chief compliance officer.

She will continue to be responsible for the legal department’s day to day running, as well as now representing the clearing house in dealings with exchanges, clearing members, business partners, and regulators.

Cawley will continue to report to William Navin, general counsel and chief legal officer. As CCO, she will report to chairman and CEO Wayne Luthringshausen.

Cawley joined the OCC as staff counsel in 1989 from the Securities and Exchange Commission, where she had been chief of the Midwest enforcement team.