R.J. O'Brien Appoints 25-Year Industry Veteran John Robbins to New Role of Global Chief Compliance Officer

CHICAGO and NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago-based R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, today announced the appointment of John Robbins, CFA, a 25-year financial services compliance veteran, to the new role of Global Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). The move comes amid continued international growth across regions, products, asset classes and regulatory jurisdictions.

Based in New York, Robbins reports to Melissa Zierk, RJO Managing Director, General Counsel. Those reporting to Robbins include Christopher Bove, CCO of RJO, the U.S. futures commission merchant; Tracy Hetherington, CCO, EMEA; and Aaron Nessel, CCO for the firm's broker-dealer affiliate.

Zierk said: "We've had considerable global expansion in recent years with a very mature compliance program in the U.S. and separate regional efforts in key markets internationally. It's now time to harmonize our global compliance program. John is ideally suited to this role, with deep global compliance experience and a proven track record in coordinating disparate regulatory products and geographic activities into cohesive compliance programs at some of the largest, most diverse organizations in the industry."

Robbins said: "RJO is a well-established organization with strength of character and exceptional leadership driving a culture of singular focus on serving its clients. I'm thrilled to be part of a company fully committed to delivering exceptional financial products globally. It's a great opportunity where I can leverage the regulatory knowledge, compliance technology and process optimization tools developed over my career to help build a proactive, operationally resilient compliance program supporting the firm's dynamic growth."

Robbins' experience includes CCO and leadership compliance roles with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Babson Capital (Barings), AIG, Apex, Deutsch Bank and GE across a range of businesses, including registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, global asset managers and clearing firms. Most recently, he served as Chief Compliance Officer for Apex Fintech Solutions and Apex Clearing, managing the compliance program covering the firm's trading, clearing and custody activities. Prior to his role with Apex, he was Senior Director and CCO at ICE Data Services, integrating advanced surveillance and monitoring solutions with enterprise compliance to support scalable and diverse global product offerings.

Robbins holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles. He is a member of the CFA Society of New York, CFA Institute and the Risk Management Association, and he holds several securities licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

About R.J. O'Brien & Associates

Founded in 1914, R.J. O'Brien & Associates is the oldest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, serving more than 80,000 institutional, commercial and individual clients globally, in addition to a network of approximately 300 introducing brokers (IBs). RJO services the industry's most expansive global network of IBs, a vast array of middle market firms and many of the world's largest financial, industrial and agricultural institutions. The firm offers state-of-the-art electronic trading and 24-hour trade execution on every major futures exchange worldwide. RJO received the FOW International Award for Non-Bank FCM of the Year for five consecutive years, and the firm and its UK affiliate have earned eight honors from the HFM Global publications in recent years.

SOURCE R.J. O'Brien & Associates