Dive Brief:
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Steven Bisgay, CFO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will become CFO of BGC Partners, effective Jan. 1, the company announced via press release Friday.
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Bisgay will replace Sean Windeatt, BGC’s COO, who has served as interim CFO since 2018, when Steve McMurray resigned from his CFO position after two years.
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Before stepping in at Cantor, Bisgay served as CFO of KCG Holdings, Inc. and in several roles at Knight Capital Group, including joint CFO-COO, head of business development, group controller and director of internal audit. Earlier in his career, Bisgay, a CPA, worked in management at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Dive Insight:
Several other C-suite executives serve in their roles at both companies, including Howard Lutnick, who stands as chairman and CEO of both.
As part of the transition, Bisgay will cease involvement in Cantor's operating businesses, including its investment bank. The company has appointed other executives in his place to handle those responsibilities. Yet, retaining his CFO title, Bisgay will continue overseeing the overlapping functions, including bondholder, lender and rating agency relations, the release said.
The release also announced the promotions of Anthony Warner, Jean-Pierre Aubin and Julian Swain to the newly created positions of co-heads of global brokerage. Warner leads BGC’s London brokerage business; Aubin oversees global listed products and primary structured products; and Swain leads Europe, Middle East and Africa business for GFI Group, a BGC subdivision.
Lutnick split Cantor Fitzgerald into two companies in 2004. Cantor, from then on, has handled big trades through stock and bond trading desks, whereas BGC Partners has offered broker-driven trading. This move enabled the two entities to grow independently but required Cantor borrow $400 million in loans and go into debt to fund BGC's initial growth.
Today, the two businesses operate autonomously, yet most of its executives serve in leadership positions at both companies. Aside from Lutnick and now Bisgay, the companies share a general counsel, Stephen Merkel; a global head of HR and partnerships, Lori Pennay; and a chief marketing officer, Karen Laureano-Rikardsen.
Representatives for BGC and for Bisgay did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.