Chicago-based R.J. O’Brien & Associates appointed Daniel Staniford as executive director, responsible for the firm’s institutional business development in New York and London. With over 20 years in the industry, Staniford will  operate out of RJO’s New York office and travel regularly to the UK to further expand the firm’s sales capabilities in the two key financial centers. Prior to joining RJO, Staniford spent 13 years at Citigroup Global Markets, serving most recently as managing director, rates sales. He spent the first seven years of his career at Brown Brothers Harriman, where he was vice president in commodities lending.

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UNTL Capital landed Grant Taylor as its new global head of discretionary FX trading. Taylor, a pro with 17 years of experience, is charged with helping to optimize current FX trading technology, efficiently manage liquidity and expand overall discretionary trading. He comes from Cantor Fitzgerald. He reports to Alain Kamagi, managing partner of UNTL Capital.

KCG hired Ryan Long, according to company spokeswoman Sophie Sohn. Long was previously the chief technology officer of 3Red Trading LLC. Ong is based in KCG’s Chicago office and will be working on the firm’s trading software. Prior to 3Red, Long worked at Citadel, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Citadel Securities has snatched Haddon Kirk from UBS for a senior position in block trading of exchange-traded funds. Kirk, who starts Oct. 31, will focus on how the firm handles large ETF trades, according to Jamil Nazarali, head of execution services at Citadel Securities.

The interim CEO of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange withdrew her request to resign at the end of the year, the bourse said, and confirmed she’d remain at he bourse. Gal Landau-Yaari, 41, had announced previously that she would step down, adding to uncertainty surrounding the exchange as it battles to recover from a drop in trading volumes and company listings. The exchange’s board met to discuss her decision and asked her to reconsider and continue to serve as acting CEO.

Macquarie has hired former JP Morgan and RBC electronic trading expert Stuart Baden Powell in its Hong Kong office. Also, Baden Powell has joined the bank as head of Asian electronic trading product, according to his LinkedIn profile, coming from JP Morgan, where he worked for more than two years and lately in Asia Pacific electronic trading sales out of Hong Kong.

Ashok Kalyanswamy joined Saxo Bank and will be responsible for the strategic direction and operations of Saxo Bank’s global IT organisation, serving as the leader for the bank’s IT-team of around 500 employees. He will assume the role in January 2017 and will be based in Copenhagen. He has over 20 years of experience working in various senior technology positions at firms such as Lehman Brothers and Nomura and most recently served as Division Director and CIO for the Macquarie Securities Group based out of Hong Kong.

More Trading Up:

• TRADING UP: O’Neil Hires DeLosada in SF; Baccidore Joins Credit Suisse from Citadel
• TRADING UP: DB Hires Trio for Autobahn; ITG Snags JP Morgan Alum
• TRADING UP: Shay Joins Nasdaq From Virtu; BTIG Adds Silver and McSweeney