The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) plans to elect Stephen O’Connor, managing director at Morgan Stanley, as the associations new chairman.
OConnor will be elected with immediate effect at the boards regularly scheduled meeting on April 14, at ISDAs 26th Annual General Meeting in Prague.
OConnor succeeds Eraj Shirvani, managing director and head of fixed income for the EMEA region at Credit Suisse, who has served as ISDAs chairman since April 2008. Shirvani will continue to serve on the Association’s Board of Directors.
“On behalf of ISDAs Board, our member firms and our staff, I would like to thank Eraj for his leadership during a challenging period for the OTC derivatives markets, says Conrad Voldstad, CEO of ISDA. He has played an important role in setting ISDAs strategy and developing our key initiatives over the years and we look forward to his continued contributions to the Association. Steve OConnor has been very active at ISDA as a board member and as chairman of the ISDA Industry Governance Committee. He is ideally suited to lead the association and our industry forward as we work together to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
Shirvani adds, Its been a privilege and a pleasure to serve as ISDAs chair. With the support of the Board and our member firms, we were able to make significant progress in key areas, such as reducing counterparty risk and increasing transparency. With Steve OConnor as the new ISDA chair, Connie Voldstad as CEO and Bob Pickel as executive vice chairman, I know that ISDA will remain a strong, active representative for the OTC derivatives markets.
O’Connor has been a member of the ISDA board since 2008. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1988 and is global head of OTC client clearing at Morgan Stanley. He graduated from Imperial College, London with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Eraj became chairman at the same time that I joined the ISDA board, says OConnor. I have seen first hand his effective leadership of ISDA and on behalf of the board I thank him for his significant contributions as chairman. I have also had the opportunity to work with many parts of the ISDA organization during this time and I look forward to working on behalf of all of our membership constituencies towards the associations fundamental mission: Safe, efficient OTC derivatives markets.