LCH Group has appointed a new head of credit default swaps (CDS) sales from ICE Clear Europe.
Michael Amakye was formerly director for CDS business development at ICE Clear Europe, responsible for developing strategy and implementation of new business initiatives for the exchange operator’s CDS clearing service. He spent six years with the firm.
He started his career at UBS in 2006, working across CDS operations and clearing. Amakye will be based in London at LCH and oversee the growth of LCH’s CDSClear business for buy-side clients and the expansion of its membership base.
LCH said his strong relationships within credit derivatives markets and his expertise will support the continued growth of its CDSClear business.
Amakye will jointly report to Phil Atkinson, global head of sales and relationship management, and Frank Soussan, global head of CDSClear.
LCH posted record volumes across multiple clearing services throughout 2017, with a 21% surge in revenues from £356 million in 2016 to £432 million.
The CDSClear service recorded $1.1 trillion in notional processed across its CDS index and single-names offering in 2017.
“We’ve seen significant growth in volumes across multiple asset classes driven by new customers as well as additional flow from existing customers,” Daniel Maguire, chief executive of LCH said at the time.