Northern Trust has responded to the growing concern in both regulatory and industry circles about post-trade processing of derivatives transactions by hiring Judson Baker as product manager for derivative processing related services including valuations, collateral management and client reporting.
His appointment follows that of Stephen Andress, who was named global head of derivatives processing in August. The bank describes the appointment as “part of a strategic approach to add expertise and enhance technological solutions to cater to the increasing demand for derivatives processing from institutional investors and fund managers globally.”
Baker, is responsible for coordinating and developing Northern Trust’s investment operations outsourcing (IOO)technology systems, fund administration, and custody services as they relate to derivatives, and will focus on both exchange traded derivatives as well as OTC derivatives. Judson will report to Mark Schoen, head of asset servicing product development, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA).
“Northern Trust has observed a marked and rapid increase in the use of derivatives in the last 12 months. We processed as many OTC derivatives in the first quarter of 2006 as wedid during the whole of 2005. As a result of this, and particularly the challenges around OTC derivatives processing, we have taken a strategic approach to add expertise and enhance our global technology systems,” says Schoen. “We are very pleased to welcome Judson to Northern Trust as his experience and skills will contribute to ensuring we are well-placed to continue to deliver robust, timely and accurate derivatives processing solutions.”
Baker joins Northern Trust from hedge fund group Citadel, where he developed and managed a product control group responsible for independent price verification and reporting and analysis of profit/loss for all products traded at the firm. Prior to this, he spent seven years at Bank One, departing as an equity derivatives trader.