Name: Gunilla Hellqvist
Job title: Senior Vice President, Head of European Operations, Market Research, Post Trade and Project Management Office
Organisation: Nasdaq, Inc.
1. Brief description of nominee’s role and job.
Gunilla Hellqvist is Head of European Market Operations, Economic and Statistical Research, Post Trade and the Project Management Office within European Markets at Nasdaq. She holds broad responsibility across trading and clearing businesses, covering all Nasdaq legal entities in Europe.
She serves as Chief Operating Officer for European Markets, leading teams that ensure Nasdaq’s exchanges, clearing operations and central securities depositories operate efficiently across all asset classes. A core part of her remit is driving major strategic, regulatory and technology transformation initiatives, including the implementation of the DORA regulation across European Markets.
Gunilla was recently appointed Vice President (Deputy CEO) of Nasdaq Stockholm AB and serves on several Nasdaq local boards. Through these roles, she plays a central part in shaping operational resilience, regulatory readiness and the long-term development of Nasdaq’s European market infrastructure.
2. Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies).
Gunilla has more than 25 years of experience at Nasdaq, holding senior leadership roles in both Europe and the United States. Prior to the 2008 OMX–Nasdaq merger, she held leadership positions within OMX Group and the Stockholm Stock Exchange, focusing on trading operations, fixed income markets, project execution and business development. She has also served on multiple local Nasdaq boards.
Before joining Nasdaq, she worked at the Central Bank of Sweden and later served as an external board member of AP1, one of Sweden’s national pension funds.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from Linköping University and an Executive MBA from MGruppen in Sweden.
Gunilla is also the location leader for Nasdaq’s Stockholm office, one of the company’s largest globally, working closely with Nordic and Baltic offices. Outside work, she enjoys family time, travelling, alpine skiing, skating and playing padel.
3. What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2025?
In 2025, Gunilla served as executive owner of Nasdaq’s European DORA programme, holding end-to-end responsibility for implementation. This included embedding DORA into board governance, policy frameworks and reporting, while refining processes to meet new regulatory standards. Extending DORA requirements across the global Nasdaq organisation was a major cross-functional effort that strengthened operational resilience.
She also oversaw a strategic technology transformation of the Nordic and Baltic fixed income markets, delivering a harmonised, scalable platform successfully launched in autumn 2025 to enhance efficiency and long-term sustainability.
As site lead for Nasdaq Stockholm, she managed the relocation to a new headquarters in central Stockholm, including the move of a secondary data centre. This complex programme reinforced infrastructure resilience and operational continuity.
A further priority was advancing the responsible use of artificial intelligence across European Markets. Gunilla led initiatives integrating AI into market-facing products and core operations, ensuring innovation was introduced securely, with appropriate governance and long-term value in mind.
As executive responsible for European market operations across eight countries, she holds ultimate accountability for ensuring stable, orderly and continuous market functioning – safeguarding availability, resilience and trust in critical financial infrastructure.
She is also a member of Nasdaq’s global senior management team, serves on the executive steering committee for employee engagement and culture, supports Women at Nasdaq, and acts as global lead for Breast Cancer Awareness – reflecting her commitment to inclusive leadership and social impact.
4. Tell us about a few of your key achievements throughout your career?
Throughout her career, Gunilla has led complex change programmes, including system transformations, operating model redesigns and cross-border relocations, always prioritising uninterrupted market operations.
One significant achievement was establishing Nasdaq’s Service Centre in Vilnius. Initially relocating around 20 roles, the centre has grown over a decade into a strategic hub employing more than 500 professionals. Maintaining a people-centred approach throughout this transformation remains a point of pride.
She also led a major technology implementation aligning European equity derivatives markets with Nasdaq’s US derivatives platform. The 18-month programme delivered economies of scale, enhanced functionality and reduced total cost of ownership, coordinated across teams in Europe and the United States.
5. What and who inspires, and has inspired, you to achieve your professional success?
Gunilla’s leadership philosophy is shaped by leaders and colleagues who demonstrate trust, openness and collaboration. She believes leadership should enable others, creating environments where people feel empowered to contribute and grow.
Nasdaq’s President and CEO, Adena Friedman, is a significant inspiration for her ability to combine strategic vision with authenticity and inclusive leadership. Externally, she is inspired by Helene Barnekow, former CEO of Microsoft Sweden, who exemplifies business acumen paired with humility and the ability to inspire others.
These examples reinforce Gunilla’s conviction that effective leadership is about creating pathways for others, particularly women, to succeed.
6. How have you overcome setbacks, and what advice would you give to others dealing with setbacks?
Gunilla approaches setbacks through structured lessons-learned reviews and open dialogue with trusted peers. Reflection and constructive feedback allow challenges to become opportunities for improvement.
She believes progress requires space for mistakes, provided they are addressed transparently. Seeking perspective and allowing time for reflection builds clarity and strengthens long-term leadership effectiveness.
7. What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions? What is the biggest takeaway you want to leave with the reader?
Leadership demands sustained commitment and resilience. Building strong professional and personal support systems is essential for navigating complexity and maintaining effectiveness.
Cultivating trusted peer networks and having a manager invested in your development significantly enhances growth opportunities.
Ultimately, impactful leadership is grounded in teamwork. By developing strong teams and supporting their success, leaders create lasting value for individuals, organisations and markets alike.