EXCLUSIVE: G.H. Financials taps JP Morgan’s Martin as CEO

G.H. Financials has appointed 27 years JP Morgan veteran David Martin as its new chief executive starting on Monday as the broker caps off a round of senior hires to enact its growth plans.

Martin, who joined JP Morgan in 1997, has held over his 27 years a string of senior roles in the US bank's futures and options business, most recently relocating to Singapore in 2014 to manage JP's regional derivatives clearing business. He also managed the cleared derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for the bank.

Martin, who left JP earlier this year, will start the London-based role on October 14, replacing interim chief executive Jerome Kemp. The move follows a series of senior hires for the firm, including former Morgan Stanley banker Kieran O’Regan who joined as head of finance in October last year. Most recently it hired Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s former European head Raymond Wong in August to run GHF's Asia Pacific business.

“Here at G.H. Financials we have taken a serious look at the senior leadership and augmented the team with deep experience,” Jerome Kemp told FOW. “So over the last year we have added Kieran O’Regan our CFO in London, Raymond Wong, the new managing director in APAC, and now our new CEO David Martin.

“David will be London-based and brings extensive expertise acquired during his many years in leadership roles in EMEA and APAC. We are positioning our senior leadership for growth, and that is consistent with the strategic focus we have in place.”

Kemp became interim chief executive of the broker in May after former GHF chief executive Sharon Shi left to join Chinese bank CITIC.

Kemp, the former head of futures at J.P. Morgan and Citigroup, became chairman of G.H. Financials on March 31, according to the Financial Conduct Authority register, just five weeks after his appointment was announced by the firm.

Speaking to FOW earlier this month, Kemp and Wong laid out the firm’s ambitious growth plans.

G.H. Financials last month became the first remote derivatives clearing member of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).