CBOE Holdings hired an experienced futures and options sales trader in London to boost the US exchange operator’s European sales effort. CBOE hired Hemal Purohit, a 20-year veteran, to work with Matt McFarland, the head of CBOE London who officially opened the Chicago group’s first European office last month.

TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s public venture market, appointed Brady Fletcher as managing director. Based in Vancouver, Fletcher has spent his career in Canada’s venture market, with specialized experience working with small companies to develop financing, M&A and business development strategies. Most recently, he served as managing director of Vancouver-based Sea to Sky Equities Inc., an independent advisory practice working with early-stage companies. He also founded Blackbook Technologies. Previously, he served as director of strategic relationships at Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and held senior investment banking positions at Canaccord Genuity. Fletcher will report to Ungad Chadda, president, capital formation, equity capital markets, TMX.

If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com

ITG has rehired Robert Ferstenberg as advisor. This is meant to help the firm implement several important components of its strategic operating plan—execution analytics, financial engineering research and development, and data/technology architecture. He has extensive experience in both the theory and practice of managing execution costs and financial risk in the investment process. Ferstenberg first joined ITG in 1992 as part of the newly formed transactions research group. From 1995 to early 2000, he helped found and then managed the firm’s financial engineering group. He left for Morgan Stanley in 2000 and helped build-out its global electronic trading business. During his 11 years there he oversaw the division’s financial engineering effort and a quantitative proprietary trading business. He retired from Morgan Stanley in 2011 and worked as a consultant and as a visiting research professor at the NYU Stern School of Business.

Barclays hired Vikesh Kotecha as head of equities trading for Europe and the Middle East late this year, according to people familiar with the matter. It is a new role as Jonathan Beebe, the bank’s former London-based global head of equity trading who retired in July, also had responsibility for trading in Europe. Kotecha, who has been with the bank since joining from Nomura in 2010, was previously head of its equities business in Asia Pacific. He will report to Richard Evans, the bank’s head of equities in the region.

Felix Mason, a former managing director at BlackRock and head of its London equity trading desk, has joined outsourced trading firm Linear Investments. Mason left BlackRock in July and started at Linear this month. He will oversee the day-to-day trading activities of its outsourced trading clients, including high and low-touch activity. Mason reports to Paul Walker-Duncalf, BlackRock’s former global head of equity trading who left in May 2015 and joined Linear earlier this year.

Detroit-based financial news provider Benzinga hired Anthony Laverde as managing director and director of content, responsible for curating the vendor’s news feed. Laverde was previously a portfolio manager at Kade Capital Group in New York, prior to which he spent almost seven years as a senior sales trader at William Blair & Co. Before that, he spent a further seven years as a sector trader at SAC Capital, and two years as a trader at First New York Securities.

Credit Suisse has promoted Indrajit Bardhan to global head of prime services. Bardhan, formerly global head of risk and head of Americas for prime services at the investment bank, takes on the position previously held by Michael Paliotta, who had the role alongside his duties as global head of equities. Bardhan will report in to Paliotta, who continues to head up global equities and lead the bank’s global prime services efforts.

Agency-broker BTIG hired Robert Hazlett as managing director in equity research. Based in BTIG’s New York office, Hazlett will cover small and mid-capitalization biotechnology companies. A professional with nearly 20 years’ experience conducting biotechnology and pharmaceutical equity research, Hazlett came from Ladenburg Thalmann. Before that, he worked at Roth Capital Partners. He spent over a decade with BMO Capital Markets covering emerging, specialty and large cap pharmaceutical firms. He has also done stints at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey, Lehman Brothers and UBS.

Russell Investments announced that Rob Bishop has relocated from London to Seattle to replace Jim Imhof as managing director and global head of trading. Imhof is retiring from the $244 billion fund manager. Bishop was most recently head of implementation services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and had previously run Russell’s UK institutional business on an interim basis.

Legal & General Investment Management’s head of equities, Lance Phillips, is leaving the UK’s largest asset manager less than four years after joining from Standard Life Investments. His responsibilities will be assumed by other senior members of the team.

Danielle Jarnot, a senior vice president at Aqua Securities in institutional sales and trading has left the firm to pursue other opportunities, according to a note sent to clients.

Previous Trading Ups:

• TRADING UP: Citi Names Gately for Americas, Haldane for EMEA Equities
• TRADING UP: RJO Hires Staniford; UNTL Lands Grant Taylor for FX
• TRADING UP: O’Neil Hires DeLosada in SF; Baccidore Joins Credit Suisse from Citadel