Clear Street has appointed Christopher Smith as chief executive officer of its futures clearing business.
Smith brings more than 30 years’ experience in the capital markets sector to the role, having worked in various exchanges and regulators, alongside helping develop market and industry standards.
He joins from ED&F Man Capital Markets, a company he founded that provides direct access to global markets across a wide range of asset classes including futures, metals, FX equities and fixed income. Smith built a futures clearing merchant from scratch to become the financial services subsidiary of ED&F Man group.
In his new role, Smith will report to Chris Pento, co-founder and chief executive of Clear Street, overseeing the development and execution of the firm’s futures clearing services.
“We’re confident that Chris is the right person to lead the growth of Clear Street’s futures clearing business,” said Pento.
“With his deep industry expertise and extensive connections, Chris will be an invaluable addition to our leadership bench.”
Last month, Clear Street revealed intentions to enter the futures clearing market with the acquisition of React Consulting Services and its proprietary, cloud-native futures clearing platform, BASIS.
The firm plans to expand into futures fall in line with its goal to become a single-source platform to serve various investor types on a global scale across multiple asset classes.
Read more: Clear Street to acquire clearing platform provider React
“I am delighted to be joining the impressive team at Clear Street, a firm powered by the latest technology, with world-class infrastructure to give its customers the edge when trading across today’s complex markets,” said Smith.
“Clear Street’s plan to move into futures clearing signals its ambitions to provide a comprehensive offering in capital markets, and I look forward to helping achieve its goals.”