Mizuho Americas announced the expansion of its US equity platform and hired Mark McLain and Peter Heller as Managing Directors in New York. The duo will focus on equity trading across utilities and energy sectors. McLain will focus on utilities and MLPs equity trading. He previously served as Managing Director at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., where he headed power and energy trading on the institutional desk and gained distinction as a top producing sales trader at the firm. Heller is charged with running the firm’s energy and industrial sector trading. In his previous role as Head of Trading at CRT/Sterne Agee, he oversaw all capital commitment for the desk, with expertise across energy, utility, industrial and materials sectors. Both report to Eric Shenker, Managing Director and Head of Equity Trading at Mizuho Americas.

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BTIG Expanded its Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Group by hiring Michael Carley, Jr. Carley comes aboard as Director of Fixed Income Credit and will focus on illiquid markets across high yield, distressed debt, loans, trade claims and private equities. Prior to BTIG, he was a member of the Distressed-Debt Trading Group at Jefferies. He began his career in distressed-debt as a Research Analyst within the Capital Structure Group at Imperial Capital. He will be based in New York and report to Drew Doscher, Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Credit, at BTIG.

As expected, J. Christopher Giancarlo, the remaining Republican on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has assumed the role of acting chairman after the departure of Timothy Massad last Friday. Giancarlo said he would welcome a permanent appointment to the position. Giancarlo joined the CFTC from the GFI Group Inc., an interdealer broker based in New York, where he was executive vice president. He also previously served as Executive Vice President and U.S. Legal Counsel of Fenics Software and was a corporate partner in the New York law firm of Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner.

Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm specializing in financial and related business services companies, hired Irene Hong Edwards as Principal and Head of Investor Relations. Hong Edwards, who will be based in New York, brings to Lovell Minnick more than 15 years of experience in alternative investments as an investor relations and business development professional as well as her investment professional experience. She was most recently a Managing Director at Z Capital where she was responsible for investor relations and business development for the firm’s private equity and credit strategies. Hong Edwards previously served as Vice President of Investor Relations for KPS Capital Partners, L.P., and was a member of the placement agent arm of Jefferies & Co. Inc. Earlier in her career, she worked at Lexington Partners on the secondaries team evaluating, executing and monitoring investments.

Jeh Johnson, who has left his job as Homeland Security secretary, is returning to the New York City law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He will advise clients on security matters, high-stakes litigation, government and internal investigations, and crisis management.

Gerry Polizzi, who had oversight over prime brokerage sales for UBS, has left the Swiss bank and is understood to be looking to launch his own fund, HFMWeek reported. Polizzi, who is understood to be leaving UBS early next month, started working for the bank in February 2002. He previously held roles at Credit Suisse for around two years and before that at Pershing for around eight years. Details on Polizzi’s potential fund launch or on who will replace him at UBS are not yet known.

Aberdeen Asset Management’s chief operating officer, Iain Plunkett, has departed the buy-side firm to join interdealer broker TP ICAP. Plunkett will serve as chief operating officer and become a member of the global executive committee for the inter-dealer broker. He joined Aberdeen Asset Management in September 2015 and was responsible for operations, sourcing, strategy information security and data for the company. Prior to his role at Aberdeen, Plunkett held several senior leadership positions at Barclays and UBS, including head of operations and technology and chief information officer.

The London Metal Exchange’s (LME) chief executive officer, Garry Jones, has announced his resignation after almost four years at the exchange. Jones will be retiring from all positions, including his role as co-head of global markets at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) group and director at LME Clear. Current chief operating officer at the LME, Matthew Chamberlain, has been appointed as interim chief executive with immediate effect, while HKEX and the LME search for a permanent successor.