Fintech business Clear Street has made a series of institutional sales appointments in its New York and Chicago offices. Six senior sales traders have been welcomed to the company, along with two equity finance professionals.
Michael Batanjany will become managing director of distribution within the equity finance team, effective 26 September. He joins Clear Street from Wells Fargo, where he was director of global prime brokerage. Prior to this, he spent more than eight years as director of global prime brokerage sales at BNP Paribas.
Bjorn Franson also joins the equity finance team, with experience at Morgan Stanley, Citi, BNY Mellon, and, most recently, Mirae Asset Securities.
Batajany and Franson will both report to Pat Travers, head of distribution, and Andy Volz, chief operating officer, and will be based in New York.
David Diaz, Chris Tierney, Erika Thomas, Frank Davis, John Spiegelman, and Louis Natoli II join the institutional sales team. They will report to Joseph Ricciardi, head of US sales and trading, and will be based in the firm’s New York and Chicago offices.
Diaz and Tierney move to Clear Street from managing director roles at Virtu Financial, spending 13 and 20 years at the company, respectively. Spiegelman also joins from Virtu Finance, where he was most recently a sales trader.
Davis and Natoli have more than two decades of sales and trading experience at Lek Securities Corporation.
Thomas joins Clear Street from Cantor Fitzgerald, where she was managing director. She also served as managing director at Barclays Investment Bank for more than 10 years, before which she was senior vice president at Lehman Brothers.
Commenting on the appointments, Riccardi says: “This expansion represents the next step in establishing Clear Street as a perennial force in the institutional equity arena. These new hires bring credibility and knowledge to our already diverse sales team. Erika will be the first of an expanded team in Chicago.
“This growing footprint, along with our existing office in Dallas, establishes our presence in major regions in the US. We look forward to broadening our reach to clients here in the US and internationally, with the goal of doubling the size of our sales force in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Clear Street recently announced the completion of its US$165 million series B funding round, which is helping the firm accelerate the platform and bolster its team and resources.
