Global Markets Exchange Group (GMEX), a new exchange focused on the launch of differentiated interest rate swap futures, has made a number of key board appointments.   Lamon Rutten (pictured) has been appointed as non-executive chairman. Rutten was formerly managing director and chief executive of the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX). Under his management, MCX became the world’s second largest commodity exchange, with a corporate valuation of well over USD1bn when he led it to an IPO. Prior to this he was chief of finance, risk management and information in the commodities branch of the United Nations Conference on

Douglas Shulman and Scott Kelly have joined the New York office of Kinetic Partners.   Shulman and Kelly have joined as director and associate director respectively, within the regulatory compliance practice.   In their respective roles, Shulman will work alongside Kinetic Partners’ compliance team and provide regulatory compliance services to hedge funds and private equity firms, while Kelly will split his time between FINRA registrations and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance services.   An attorney and seasoned compliance professional, Shulman joins Kinetic Partners from Two Sigma, where he held the role of chief compliance officer (CCO), preparing the firm’s multi-strategy hedge

BlueBay Asset Management has appointed Graham Stock as head of emerging markets sovereign research with immediate effect.    Based in London, Stock’s (pictured) main focus will be on Latin America alongside the management of a team of analysts covering Asia and CEEMEA.   Stock joins BlueBay from Insparo Asset Management. Prior to that he spent 12 years in emerging market research at JP Morgan in New York and London, focusing on Latin America, CEEMEA and Sub-Saharan Africa.   David Dowsett, partner and senior portfolio manager, says: “I’m delighted to welcome Graham to the team. His depth of expertise within the

KPMG has hired three industry veterans to augment its rapidly growing alternative investments (AI) team, focusing on hedge funds, private equity firms and real estate funds.   Camille Asaro, Jay Freedman and Linda Grogan have recently joined KPMG’s AI team in New York.   Asaro has been hired as an audit partner in the New York financial services practice. Asaro has more than 23 years’ experience in asset management, audit, accounting, strategic planning, hedge funds, and private equity funds.   Prior to joining KPMG, Asaro served as an audit partner at a leading national professional services firm that focuses on

AKJ, an independent brokerage and software group serving the institutional and hedge fund industries, has appointed Tom Mackay as general counsel.   Mackay has provided legal consultancy to AKJ for more than 12 years, but with the formation of AKJ Accelerator in 2012, his role has now developed into a more senior position.   AKJ Accelerator is a hedge fund solution for fund managers, which takes care of all the necessary components involved with the set up and day-to-day operation of a fund. As AKJ’s general counsel, Mackay is responsible for the global regulatory framework within AKJ Accelerator and will

SYZ Asset Management, the institutional asset management arm of the Swiss banking Group SYZ & Co, has appointed Ian Penrose as distribution director for the UK.   Penrose, who will be responsible for promoting SYZ Asset Management’s (SYZ AM) capabilities, including the SYZ AM and Oyster funds, joins from Barclays Capital Funds & Advisory, where he was responsible for leading fund distribution to UK professional clients.   Penrose will be in charge of promoting the full range of SYZ Asset Management’s capabilities to the UK domestic market, including segregated mandates as well as the SYZ AM and OYSTER funds. With

Carey Olsen has appointed Michael Makridakis as partner and head of litigation in the firm’s Cayman Islands office.   Makridakis will assume responsibility for developing the firm’s litigation practice in the jurisdiction and specialises in insolvency, restructuring and commercial litigation with an emphasis on litigation involving distressed funds.   Makridakis’ appointment brings the partner numbers for Carey Olsen in the Cayman Islands to five with five associates.   Makridakis says: “Carey Olsen prides itself on providing the highest level of legal advice to clients and, as a result, the firm enjoys an outstanding reputation for offshore legal services globally. I

Law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan has appointed Tram N Nguyen as a partner in the firm’s private funds practice group.    Nguyen is resident in Stroock’s DC office, where she joins Robert E Plaze who before founding that office as a partner was the deputy director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s division of investment management.   Nguyen joins Stroock from the Securities and Exchange Commission, where most recently she was chief of the private funds branch of the SEC’s division of investment management.  While in that capacity, she led rulemaking and related initiatives affecting private fund advisers,