LCH global head of sales Kate Birchall resigns from clearing house

Birchall, who became LCH’s managing director, global head of sales in January 2021, resigned from her role at the LSE Group-owned clearing house in the past week, according to sources who said she is leaving to join an Australian bank.

A spokeswoman for LSE Group confirmed Birchall’s resignation but declined to comment further.

Birchall joined LCH in October 2018 as the firm’s Sydney-based head of Asia-Pacific from National Australia Bank where she was head of portfolio optimisation and collateral.

After delivering strong growth in Asia, Birchall relocated to London in early 2021 to become the clearing firm’s managing director, global head of sales, reporting to Isabelle Girolami, the head of LCH in London, and Christophe Hémon, the chief executive of LCH in Paris.

Girolami left LCH earlier this year to become NatWest’s head of corporate and institutional banking, and was replaced in January by Susi de Verdelon who was previously the head of LCH SwapClear and Listed Rates.

Nick Rustad, JP Morgan’s former global head of derivatives clearing, was appointed on June 12 as the group’s new head of SwapClear and Listed Rates, reporting to De Verdelon, as first reported by FOW.

LSE Group’s post-trade division, which is mostly LCH, generated revenue of £1.2bn last year, up 3.7% on a constant currency basis, according to LSE Group.

SwapClear, the main earner for LCH, is facing the prospect of increased competition in Euro swaps from Frankfurt’s Eurex Clearing.

European regulators introduced on Tuesday the controversial active account regulation (AAR) which requires European firms to clear some of their interest rate derivatives, including interest rate swaps, with a European clearing house.

The regulation is an attempt to break the dominance of SwapClear and ICE Clear Europe which are respectively the main Euro swaps and Euro short-term interest rate futures clearing houses.