Clara Furse: Difference between revisions

'''Dame Clara Hedwig Frances Furse''' [[Order of the British Empire|DBE]] ({{née|'''Siemens'''}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/journals/culture-magazines/furse-clara |title=encyclopedia.com Culture magazines |publisher=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=3 April 2022}}</ref>) (born 16 September 1957) was the chiefChief executiveExecutive of the [[London Stock Exchange]] between January 2001 and May 2009, and was the first woman to occupy the position. In 2005, she was ranked 19th in ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine's most powerful women in business list.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/international/ |title=Fortune's Most Powerful Women in Business |publisher=CNN |accessdate=3 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220204735/https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/international/ |archive-date=20 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2007, Furse was listed among ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'s}} 100 most influential people in the world.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith |first=Adam |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615737_1615532,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505052513/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615737_1615532,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2007 |title=Clara Furse – The 2007 Time 100 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=3 May 2007 |accessdate=3 February 2014}}</ref>

Clara Furse is the chairChair of [[HSBC Bank (Europe)#UK banking|HSBC UK]].<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/31/clara-furse-to-chair-hsbcs-retail-arm| title = Clara Furse to chair HSBC's retail arm| date= November 1, 2016 | work = Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/hsbc-is-clara-furse-the-right-person-to-chair-its-retail-bank-depends-which-clara-furse-turns-up-in-a7391741.html| title = HSBC: Is Clara Furse the right person to chair its retail bank? Depends which Clara Furse turns up in the boardroom| date= November 1, 2016 | work = Independent}}</ref> She is also a non-executive director of [[Vodafone]] plc. and [[Assicurazioni Generali|Assicurazioni Generali S.p,A]]. She is a member of the Panel of Senior Advisors to [[Chatham House]] and of [[Bocconi University]]'s International Advisory Council.

In March 2021 she became chairChair of the UK Voluntary Carbon Markets Forum, establishing a group that aims to operationalise a global, high integrity market for voluntary carbon offsetscredits; an essential component of an accelerated and economically productive transition to net zero. In 2012, she chaired the Lead Expert Group of the UK government's Office for Science Foresight project on The Future of Computer Trading in financialFinancial marketsMarkets.

She was a non-executive Director of [[Amadeus IT Group|Amadeus IT Group S.A]]. from 2010 to 2022. She was an externalExternal memberMember of the [[Bank of England]]'s Financial Policy Committee (FPC), a policymaker on the new statutory body and macroprudential regulator from April 2013 until October 2016. She was a non-executive directorDirector of [[Nomura Holdings]] from June 2010 to March 2017. For six years until April 2017, she was on the board of the UK's [[Department for Work and Pensions]] and latterly its lead independent director.

From January 2001 to May 2009 she was chiefChief executiveExecutive of the [[London Stock Exchange]], a [[FTSE 100]] company. During this period she was also a non-executive directorDirector of [[Euroclear]] plc, [[LCH (clearing house)|LCH Clearnet]] Group Ltd., [[Fortis (finance)|Fortis SA]] and a member of the Shanghai International Financial Advisory Council. From 2009 to 2013, she was a non-executive director of [[Legal & General]] plc.

Prior to joining the exchangeExchange, Furse was groupGroup chiefChief executiveExecutive of Credit Lyonnais Rouse from 1998 to 2000. Before that she spent 15 years at [[UBS]].

Furse's career has spanned a broad range of global financial markets. She began her career in 1979 as a broker, joining [[Phillips & Drew]] in 1983. At UBS she became a managingManaging directorDirector in 1995 and globalGlobal headHead of futuresFutures in 1996. During the 1990s she also served as a non-executive directorDirector, committee chair and deputyDeputy chairChair of the [[London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange]].

Furse listed the 200-year-old exchange on its own market in 2001. Very strong growth followed a major technology upgrade to [[TradElect|Tradelect]] and an international focus to its listings business. TradElectTradelect eventually provided sub-millisecond trading, consistently setting new records for latency in exchange trading.  Daily electronic trading volumes grew by 82% and profits grew by 52% in 2007, the Exchange announced, allowing it to recoup the full £40m cost of investment in under a year. This rapid growth prompted a record five unsolicited or hostile bids in under two and half years from late 2004 to early 2007. Deutsche Boerse, Euronext, Macquarie, and Nasdaq (who twice failed to acquire the Exchange despite garnering nearly 30% of the stock), launched bids at prices from £5.30 to £12.43. The Exchange conducted an unprecedented number of successful bid defenses before completing its merger with [[Borsa Italiana]] in October 2007, which provided the foundation for a diversification into derivatives, fixed income, clearing and settlement. In 2011, the new CEO replaced TradElectTradelect with an even faster trading engine developed by Millennium IT in Sri Lanka.

Furse was a non-executive directorDirector of [[Fortis (finance)|Fortis]] when the Belgian bank, in partnership with [[Royal Bank of Scotland]] and [[Grupo Santander|Santander]], purchased ABN Amro in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pratley |first=Nils |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2013/mar/26/dame-clara-furse-financial-policy-committee |title=Dame Clara Furse: being bailed out is no bar to serving on FPC &#124; Business |work=The Guardian |date=26 March 2013 |accessdate=3 February 2014}}</ref> The acquisition led to the bailout of Fortis which was subsequently sold off in parts to the Belgian and Dutch Statesstates and BNP Paribas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2008/09/29/fortis-bailed-out-by-three-governments/ |title=Fortis bailed out by three Governments |publisher=Finance Markets |accessdate=3 February 2014}}</ref>