NFA's Board Announces Four Swap Participant Members (with Eastwood Comment)

In August 2012, the NFA's Board voted unanimously to ratify a proposal to amend the NFA's Articles of Incorporation to increase the size and modify the structure of the Board to integrate swap dealer and major swap participant members into the NFA's governance structure. The amended Articles increase the Board's size by adding seven swap participants to the Board.

Because of the NFA's role in the oversight of the OTC derivatives market, the NFA is giving its newest membership categories a representative voice in the organization. Three additional swap participant representatives are expected to be elected to the NFA's Board by the end of the year.

At its May 16 meeting, the NFA's Board of Directors elected the following individuals:

• Robert Burke, managing director and head of Global OTC Clearing at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
• Charlotte McLaughlin, president and CEO of PNC Capital Markets LLC.
• Philip Olesen, managing director and global head of credit trading at UBS Securities LLC.
• Don Thompson, managing director and associate general counsel at JPMorgan Chase Co.

Eastwood Comment:Increasing the size and modifying the structure of the Board was a necessary step before the NFA could accept swap dealers and major swap participants into membership and update and apply its rules to swap dealers and major swap participants.

Click here to view the announcement in full (links externally to the NFA website). See also: Previous newsletter article discussing the changes to the NFA's Articles of Incorporation.