LSE Group promotes Asia markets head Verma to run global sales

Verma, who joined LSE Group’s LCH clearing division in 2021, will assume on September 1 the global sales role in addition to his existing duties as LSEG’s Asia-Pacific head of Markets.

A spokeswoman for LSEG confirmed the appointment.

Verma will become early next month global head of Sales, Markets (Clearing, Post Trade Solutions, Regulatory Reporting), replacing LCH’s former head of sales Kate Birchall who resigned in late June, as first reported by FOW.

Birchall, who became LCH’s managing director, global head of sales in January 2021, is said by sources to be taking up a senior role at a large Australian bank.

Verma has over 25 years’ experience in markets, having worked at Citigroup, Deutsche, LBBW and Credit Suisse before joining LCH four years ago.

The promotion is the latest senior management change at LCH after the London-based clearing house appointed in early June Nick Rustad, JP Morgan’s former global head of derivatives clearing, as head of SwapClear and Listed Rates, as first reported by FOW.

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

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 in late June 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.