KPMG alumnus Kate Birchall joins LCH as Head of Asia Pacific
Kate Birchall, a former Director at accounting and consulting firm KPMG, has been appointed Head of Asia Pacific at LCH, an international clearing house. From the firm’s base in Sydney, Australia, Birchall will lead a region which LCH describes as “of strategic importance” for its international growth ambitions.
LCH’s new Asia Pacific boss joins from National Australia Bank (NAB), where she worked for six years in the bank’s Sydney operation. Most recently, Birchall served as Head of Portfolio Optimisation and Collateral. Prior to that she worked nearly a decade for three other banking institutions: Lloyds (3 years), CIBC (3 years) and ANZ (3 years).
During her tenure in banking, Birchall gained extensive experience in financial structuring, clearing, capital and collateral management, credit structuring and financial research, among other areas. In between Birchall spent three years at KPMG, one of the globe’s four largest accounting and consulting firms, as a Director in the firm’s Risk Advisory practice.In her new role, effective 15 October 2018, she will lead LCH’s client relationships and business in Asia Pacific, including the company’s OTC derivatives clearing operations in Sydney and Tokyo. LCH, which is headquartered in London, operates as a central counterparty (CCP), acting as a buyer to every seller and a seller to every buyer. The rates and multi-asset clearing house provides proven services across a range of asset classes, including OTC and listed Interest Rates, Fixed Income, FX, CDS, Equities and Commodities.
Martin Pluves, CEO of LCH, said he is delighted with Birchall’s appointment, stating; “Asia Pacific is a region of strategic growth for LCH.” As it stands, the firm’s clearing operations are directly licenced in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, with members and clients from twelve APAC countries currently using LCH’s clearing services. With Birchall at the helm, Pluves aims at extending the firm’s footprint in the region.
“Kate brings with her substantial experience of the markets in Australia and internationally, and will be an asset to our leadership team.”
Birchall succeeds Marcus Robinson, who has assumed the position of Head of Group Business Development, based in London. He has been tasked with defining new business opportunities and developing new services and products. Pluves said; “I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.”
Earlier this month, one of KPMG’s largest rivals, EY, saw a partner in its Financial Services wing leave to take up a post with Citigroup.