Multi-bank securities lending platform EquiLend has appointed former PricewaterhouseCoopers director Ian Drachman as CEO, effective immediately.
EquiLend, formed to develop a global securities lending platform, was announced in May by a consortium of leading financial institutions. Founding members are Barclays Global Investors, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, State Street, and UBS Warburg.
Drachman will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the securities lending platform, building an executive management team, and planning for the development of EquiLend's participant base.
Drachman joins EquiLend from PricewaterhouseCoopers where as a director of management consulting services for the financial services industry, he was responsible for providing IT solutions for risk management, trading, and operations for fixed income, derivatives and equities products. Previously, he was vice president in the technology division of the corporate and institutional client group at Merrill Lynch.
The platform, implemented through subsidiaries, is scheduled to be operational in the first half of 2002, following receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. Its aim is to increase efficiency in the securities lending industry by developing common protocols for conducting transactions over the platform, providing a global communications hub for transactions, creating liquidity through its participants and automating processes in the front and back office that are traditionally done manually.