Goldman Sachs has hired Mike Blum, the former chief technology officer at KCG Holdings, the high-frequency trading firm recently acquired by Virtu Financial, as its CTO for its electronic trading unit. As part of his role, he will be responsible for setting standards for Securities Systematic Solutions, a newly created initiative that seeks to bring together all electronic trading efforts. He also held top tech jobs at Teza Technologies and Getco. Blum will report to Konstantin Shakhnovich, Umesh Subramanian and Raj Mahajan, according to an internal memo.

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BTIG announced Christopher Rollins has joined the firm as Managing Director and Head of U.S. Execution Services. Based in New York, he will focus on developing client solutions, and growing the firm’s U.S. institutional equity business. Rollins spent more than 15 years at Goldman Sachs in several key leadership roles. Most recently, he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of European Execution Services in London. Previously, Mr. Rollins spent more than a decade in the New York office, where he was a Managing Director in Institutional Equities, focused on executing cash equities and derivatives. Rollins will report to Richard J. Blank, Jr., Managing Director and Head of Global Equities, at BTIG.

Stephens, an independent financial services firm, is growing its New York Institutional Equities Sales and Trading team with the addition of three new hires – Greg Gaffney, Brett Katzner and Mike Pascarella – who all join as Managing Directors.

Pascarella has more than 20 years of institutional equity experience with his most recent position at Jefferies where he was a managing director of institutional equity sales. Previously,  Pascarella held positions at Echo Street Capital Management, Goldman Sachs and Mississippi Valley Advisors. He is a graduate of Rutgers University.

Similarly experienced, Katzner is a former director of institutional sales at BTIG and a former vice-president at Thomas Wiesel Partners. He was a consumer analyst and portfolio manager earlier in his career.

Greg Gaffney has nearly two decades of experience in cross-asset sales, electronic trading and sales trading at Goldman Sachs.

The chief executive of Amsterdam-based Optiver has decided to retire, sparking the latest change at the top of one of the world’s big high-frequency trading firms this year. He will be replaced by Jan Boomaars, the leader of its European business, who joined from Goldman Sachs in October 2015. Boomaars, a well-known name in trading circles, ran Goldman Sachs’s European equities execution and clearing business before he left the bank. He will continue to run Optiver’s European operations.

BGC Partners reported that Shawn McLoughlin is being appointed CEO of BGC Financial for the Americas region, effective immediately. McLoughlin brings to the role more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Credit Suisse snagged a new senior emerging markets trader, Jamil Hallak, a former managing director of emerging markets trading at Haitong Securities in London. Before Haitong, Hallak spent five and a half years at Deutsche Bank in Dubai.

Electronic Transaction Clearing has named Jack Nicosia as Managing Director and Senior Vice President, Securities Lending. Jack was most recently Managing Director of the Securities Lending Group at COR Clearing LLC.

Anthony DeMonte, a senior prime brokerage executive at Jefferies, left the US investment bank earlier this month. New York-based DeMonte joined Jefferies back in 2009 and before that was a director at Deutsche Bank between 2007–2009. Nick Rankin is currently managing director, co-head of global prime services & head of securities finance at Jefferies.

Instinet announced it has appointed Greg Treacy as Head of International Electronic Sales. Based in New York, Treacy will be responsible for further expanding the firm’s delivery of algorithmic and electronic trading capabilities and services to US clients trading globally. He joined from Deustche Bank, where he was a Director for its Global Execution Services business, responsible for electronic trading and relationship management for US clients trading internationally. Before that, Treacy held senior sales, trading, and account management positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Neonet, Inc. He began his career in electronic trading at Lexit Financial Group working in both New York and London. Lexit was bought by Neonet in 2002.

Head of prime broking at Deutsche Bank, Marcelo Pizzimbono, is returning to Goldman Sachs for a senior equity sales role, where he previously held a US equity sales managing director position.

Exotix, the investment bank that focuses on frontier and emerging markets, has hired former head of equities at ICBC Standard Bank, Matthew Pearson. Pearson will be responsible for Exotix’s frontier equities platform.

Cowen has appointed Douglas Nelson and Michael DeJarnette as Co-Heads of U.S. Prime Brokerage Services. Kevin LoPrimo continues as Head of International Prime Brokerage.

Ryan Labs Asset Management, a member of the Sun Life Investment Management group of companies, has appointed Richard Familetti as President and CIO of Ryan Labs as Sean McShea has stepped down as President. Familetti joined Ryan Labs in 2009, first as a portfolio manager specializing in corporate credit and fixed income asset allocation, before assuming the role of Director of Asset Management in 2015.  He will report to Steve Peacher, President, Sun Life Investment Management.