EquiLend Holdings LLC, the securities lending cartel formed in May last year last year by ten agent and investment banks to counter the threat of disintermediation by building their own global securities lending platform, today announced the appointments of Dirk Pruis as company president, Richard Levin as general counsel, and Andy Kollegger, executive director at UBS Warburg, as chairman of the company’s newly formed International Committee. The appointments are effective immediately and will play a critical role as EquiLend nears the worldwide launch of its global securities lending platform ,” says Equilend .
Pruis joins EquiLend in the newly created role of president with more than 16 years experience in the securities industry, including nine years w orking at Goldman Sachs, a founding member of
the EquiLend cartel . In his most recent role as a Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ s Technology Strategy Group, Mr. Pruis was
project manag er for EquiLend. In his new job, he will focus on leading the execution and rollout of the platform. “Having worked with the company from its earliest stages, I have tremendous confidence in EquiLend’s promise to bring a new dimension of value for the industry,” said Pruis. “I look forward to helping bring EquiLend’s vision to life.”
Richard Levin joins EquiLend from Knight Trading Group where, as Assistant G eneral Counsel and Regulatory Affairs Officer, he represented Nasdaq’s largest market maker before the SEC, Nasdaq, NASD Regulation and Congress on regulatory and policy matters. Mr. Levin also provided general securities, compliance, corporate, merger and acquisition, and intellectual property counsel to the holding company and its subsidiaries. As general counsel for the Equilend holding company and chief compliance officer for its broker-dealer subsidiary, Mr. Levin will be responsible for all legal matters for EquiLend and for insuring EquiLend’s compliance with all governmental rules and regulations.
Andy Kollegger, Executive Director, UBS Warburg, has been appointed to chair EquiLend’s newly established International Committee, which will focus on engaging participants and continuing to ensure platform functionality for European markets. Mr. Kollegger will maintain his role at UBS Warburg, another of EquiLend’s founding consortium members. The new committee consists of representatives of the found er members of Equilend: Barclays Global Investors; Bear, Stearns, Goldman Sachs , J.P. Morgan Chase , Lehman Brothers; Merrill Lynch , Morgan Stanley , Northern Trust State Street
and UBS Warburg.
“The formation of the International Committee is a direct reflection of EquiLend’s commitment to bringing lasting innovation to the securities lending industry worldwide,” said Mr. Kollegger. “I am eager to work with EquiLend’s management team and my international colleagues as we continue to ensure true global functionality and share the new platform with prospective participants.”
Equilend CEO Ian Drachman added: “Our appointment of Dirk, Richard and Andy reflects the commitment of EquiLend to bring world class resources together to provide a unique and valuable offering to the securities lending industry,” said “With our management team now in place, we are confident t hat the launch of this platform will be successful.”