The WFE's Women Leaders 2023 - Isabelle Girolami, CEO, LCH Ltd

Name: Isabelle Girolami

Organisation: London Stock Exchange Group

Job Title: CEO, LCH Ltd

1. Brief description of nominee’s role and job:

Isabelle Girolami is the CEO of LCH Ltd, a leading and systemic global clearing house. She is responsible for driving continued expansion across LCH’s services, with a focus on sustained growth, innovation and operational excellence. Based in London, she is also head of diversity and inclusion and ESG for the Post Trade Division, responsible for the identification and execution of related new business opportunities, and a member of LSEG’s Post Trade Leadership Team.

Isabelle reports to Daniel Maguire, Group CEO, LCH, and Group Director, Post Trade, LSEG. LCH Ltd has approximately 800 employees across London, NYC and APAC.

As part of her role at LSEG, Isabelle is fully committed to supporting and embracing a culture of diversity and inclusion (D&I) across the Post Trade Division and the wider Group. Isabelle is a ‘culture changer’ and an authentic leader who cares not only about the business, but also her people.

Isabelle is head of D&I for post trade and represents post trade leadership on LSEG’s D&I Working Group, with the purpose of creating systematic change through senior leadership accountability and ownership. Isabelle has shown active support for key internal networks, including BEING, LSEG’s Black affinity network, where she contributes to open conversations and solutions that promote career progression, representation and inclusion for black employees.

Isabelle provides support to the employee-led committee You Matter. This committee helps bring the voice of our staff to senior management and also manages awards for staff for special achievements through employee nominations, and provides additional resources for staff and line managers, and cultural celebrations.

In her free time, Isabelle is a board member of a major pharmaceutical company that is privately owned by a charitable foundation.

2. Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies):

Prior to joining LCH in November 2019, Isabelle was deputy CEO of Crédit Agricole CIB, in charge of Global Markets, having joined the bank in 2015 as global head of Financial Markets and serving on Crédit Agricole CIB’s Executive Committee. She previously spent seven years at Standard Chartered Bank, in London and Singapore, starting in 2008 as head of Global Markets Europe and co-head of Wholesale Banking Europe, before being appointed head of Global Markets ASEAN.

Her extensive banking career in Europe and Asia began in 1995 at BNP Paribas, where she became COO for Global Fixed Income. This was followed by her appointment in 2000 as chief of staff for Europe and COO for Fixed Income Europe and Asia at Bear Stearns.

Isabelle is a graduate in international law and finance from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciale in Paris. She is a proud mother of two and is a passionate cyclist. She is also a keen hiker and spends most of her holidays hiking in Europe.

3. What were your professional highlights and challenges in 2022?

As the markets’ partner, LCH operates an open model, offering a choice of execution venues, delivering unprecedented choice and efficiencies to the marketplace. It offers clearing services across asset classes including OTC and listed rates; FX derivatives; fixed income; cash equities and equity derivatives. LCH operates some of the most systemically important clearing services in financial markets.

LCH achieved record volumes across its services in 2022, having expanded and built new connectivity to continue to provide the robust risk management, capital efficiencies and operational benefits that support customers and help ensure financial stability.

During 2022, ForexClear achieved a record year in Cleared notional +14% vs. 2021. ForexClear continues to set new volume records with >$1trn FX Options notional cleared in 2022 (+59% on 2021). Additionally, +112% growth in client clearing aided by record Q4 2022 $146bn.

SwapClear’s successful role in supporting and leading the rates market in the conversion of GBP, JPY, CHF, EUR Libor, and EONIA transactions to new RFR indices throughout 2022. Over the full year 2022, SwapClear registered a record number of trades 8.2m vs 6.8m in 2021 (+20%). Looking back to 2019 this is a 34% increase (6.1m FY 2019). 

Setting a new annual record, EquityClear in LCH Ltd saw 2.24bn trade sides cleared, +15% compared to 2021. RepoClear LCH Ltd saw € equivalent 54.8bn record notional for GBP debt, +29% compared to 2021.There was also a 20% increase in trade sides cleared.

4. What and who inspires, and has inspired, you to achieve your professional success?

My family has always had a profound impact on who I am - I was raised to try and be good at what I do whatever I choose and to work hard - my kids also keep me honest and hold me to a high standard always!

5. What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions?

Be yourself and true, work hard and find a space, a work place where you can be yourself and where that is valued - then work hard and you will achieve loads.

Network is key, but only network with people you value and you like - that will be become a real network.