RJ O'Brien Ltd's general counsel, compliance head leave firm

RJ O’Brien Limited, the British arm of the US brokerage group, has parted ways with its general counsel and head of compliance, marking the latest management changes at the London-based firm.

Franco Barone, RJ O’Brien Limited’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Paul Snell, RJO Limited’s head of compliance, left the firm in late May, according to sources.

Barone was de-registered as a material risk taker at RJ O’Brien Limited by the Financial Conduct Authority on May 26 2023, according to the FCA Register.

Barone joined RJO in late 2021 from inter-dealer broker Tradition where he was general counsel for 14 years. Previously, he was general counsel at Maxcor Financial Group until that firm was acquired by inter-dealer broker BGC Partners in 2005.

Before that, Barone was a commercial litigation partner at law firms Marriott Harrison and Steptoe & Johnson.

Snell was registered at RJ O’Brien Limited by the UK regulator in March last year, having previously worked at proprietary trading firm Tower Broking Limited for over eight years.

Before Tower, Snell worked at Marex Financial, Refco Overseas Limited, BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Limited and Citigroup Global Markets Limited, according to the FCA Register.

A spokesperson for RJ O’Brien Limited declined to comment, citing company policy.

Tracy Hetherington joined RJ O’Brien in November last year as the firm’s chief compliance officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

She joined from GH Financials where she worked for seven years as that firm’s global head of regulatory risk, compliance and trade surveillance.

Gemma Lloyd joined the European arm of RJ O’Brien as chief commercial officer in January from GH Financials where she had worked for nearly a decade.

Also in January, O’Brien promoted Amber Wright to global head of fixed income, a move designed to build the firm’s rates broking business.

Mark Phelps was the chief executive officer at GH Financials for nearly four years before becoming in February last year RJ O’Brien Limited’s managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.