LCH has appointed a new chief operating officer (COO), shortly after naming Daniel Maguire as its new chief executive officer.
John Horkan will take over the role of COO as well as his current position of LCH head of North America, based in New York and reporting to Maguire.
The appointment marks the first time the London-based clearing house’s global operations will be run from the US.
In addition, his appointment follows comments made by Maguire last week to the UK House of Lords, in which he said all or significant parts of the business may be relocated to New York if there was no transition deal in place when the UK leaves the European Union.
It is feared a lack of a Brexit transition deal could fragment LCH’s clearing operations, as it currently clears the majority of euro-denominated interest rate derivatives.
Horkan will work in partnership with the CEOs of LCH’s regulated central counterparties and the senior management team to implement the Group’s strategy across services and entities.
He joined LCH in 2012 having previously spent 19 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan in various roles including COO of global markets sales and corporate bond sales.
Maguire explained Horkan has played a pivotal role in developing and expanding LCH’s US customer base throughout his time as head of North America with the firm.
“In his new role, he will oversee the execution of our strategy including driving operational efficiency programmes as we continue to grow the Group’s global business,” he added.
Maguire - who was appointed COO at LCH at LCH in April this year - has assume the position of CEO following Suneel Bakhshi’s decision to step down from the role after four years.
He has held several other senior positions at LCH including global head of rates and FX derivatives after retuning to the firm in 2008.