Change at the Top of LSEG FX with Two Senior Exits

Following the departure of its head of capital markets two weeks ago (The Full FX newsletter 14/5/24), further major changes are occurring at LSEG, with two senior departures from its FX business, including the group head.

LSEG has confirmed that Neill Penney will leave the exchange group in June from his role as group head of FX – a position he has held for more than three years. Penney was appointed group head of FX after the takeover of the Refinitiv business by LSEG, prior to which he was co-head of trading.

Penney’s departure ends an 11-year association with LSEG and its predecessors, he joined then-Thomson Reuters in 2013 as co-head of trading from Morgan Stanley, where he spent almost four years as head of product strategy for FX and emerging markets. Prior to that, Penney was an early member of the FXall team, joining the platform before it was bought by Thomson Reuters, in 2001 as global head of product strategy, a role he held for almost nine years. He joined FXall from JP Morgan, where he spent over seven years, most latterly in the FX derivatives research group.

LSEG says the role of group head of FX will be assumed by James Pearson, currently CEO of LCH ForexClear, another part of the LSEG Group. Pearson joined ForexClear in 2021 after a five year period out of financial markets, however before that he was global head of FX and emerging markets trading at NatWest Markets, a role he held for five years after joining the bank from three years at Nomura, where he was global head of G10 FX trading and head of EMFX trading for EMEA, having shifted from the same role at Lehman Brothers, where he worked for over five years before its assets were acquired by Nomura in the wake of former’s collapse. Pearson also spent three years at HSBC in NDF trading, as well as four years at Citi in G10 FX trading.

The Full FX also understands from sources, that Geoff Jones, head of FX spot venues at LSEG FX, has resigned from his post. The sources say that Jones is taking up a role in banking, however this could not be confirmed by time of publication. Jones joined the firm in 2021 having previously spent 10 years at RBC Capital Markets in London, where he was most latterly global head of e-FX and spot trading.

Prior to that, Jones spent nearly six years at Royal Bank of Scotland as a senior developer and emerging markets product manager, responsible for the construction and distribution of the bank’s pricing capabilities in those markets. No replacement has apparently been named for Jones.