SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a member-owned cooperative through which the financial world conducts its business operations has appointed David Lefferts as Managing Director, Market Initiatives for the Americas. Lefferts becomes a member of SWIFT’s Americas Management Team and reports to Chris Church, Chief Executive, Americas and Global Head of Securities.

Lefferts comes with 20 years of experience in the industry, the most recognisable being his contribution to developing its fixed income strategy as well as for running its TRACE reporting service for bonds at Fixed Income Strategy at FINRA, the independent securities regulatory body in the U.S.

Most recently he worked with Markit; a global provider of financial information services, where he held product development, cross-product strategy, and senior business development roles over his eight year tenure.

In his new role at SWIFT, Lefferts will be responsible for ensuring that SWIFT’s products and services continue to evolve to meet customer requirements that are changing rapidly as a result of market, regulatory and technological developments.

“David will be a tremendous asset to our team, bringing a deep understanding of our customers and our community, says Church. “I look forward to working closely with David as we define and execute our overall go-to-market strategy for the Americas region.”

David commenting on his appointment said that- “This is an exciting time to join the firm, as the industry is increasingly looking to SWIFT to solve common industry challenges, for example related to compliance, and how to respond to the changing payments landscape,” says Lefferts. “I look forward to utilizing my breadth of experience across the capital markets and regulation to contribute to the many important initiatives SWIFT is undertaking to address the needs of its user community.”

Swift is providing services to connect more than 10,800 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in over 200 countries and territories. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably.
(image credit: Kecko)