LCH Appoints Isabelle Girolami as CEO, Martin Pluves Steps Down

LCH announced the appointment of Isabelle Girolami as Chief Executive Officer, thus replacing Martin Pluves who steps down on 31 July. She will join the firm on 1 November from Crédit Agricole, where she most recently served as Deputy CEO of its Corporate and Investment Banking Business.

The leading global clearinghouse will now count with an experienced executive who, prior to leading the Financial Markets department of Crédit Agricole since 2015, spent seven years at Standard Chartered Bank both in London and Singapore, latterly serving as Co-Head of the Wholesale Bank ASEAN and Head of Financial Markets ASEAN.

Based in London, Girolami will be responsible for driving continued expansion across LCH’s market-leading clearing services across asset classes including interest rate derivatives, FX, equities and fixed income. The goal is to continue the path of growth, innovation, and operational excellence. She will report to LCH chief executive Daniel Maguire, who will serve as interim CEO until Girolami joins the team.

Daniel Maguire, Chief Executive Officer at LCH Group, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Isabelle Girolami to LCH Group. As a proven leader, Isabelle brings extensive experience in managing high calibre global teams operating across a number of asset classes. She is well-known in the financial markets and has an outstanding track record in Europe, in addition to significant experience in Asia. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for his significant contributions to the growth and development of LCH.”

Isabelle Girolami commented: “LCH has an impressive track record of partnering with the markets that it serves, in order to drive innovation and provide best-in-class risk management. Its open-access approach and strong customer focus are unique, and I’m honored to be asked to lead LCH Ltd for the next stage of its growth.”

The clearinghouse has recently partnered with capital markets software firm genesis to design, build and implement three new solutions: automating workflows for its ForexClear service, a CDS option electronic exercise platform for CDSClear, and member/client web portals for SwapClear.~

The company reported record volumes across its clearing services in 2018, from equities, fixed income, and OTC derivatives clearing services. LCH’s FX derivatives clearing service, ForexClear, cleared over $17 trillion in notional in 2018, up 55 percent. LCH’s interest rate derivatives clearing service, SwapClear, processed over $1 quadrillion in 2018, up 23 percent year-over-year. LCH estimates SwapClear’s compression services have saved its customers $39.5 billion in capital.