New Opportunities for Fully-Paid Borrow: Equity-for-Equity Securities Loans

Frank Falanga is the North America Head of the Collateral Management Group for Prime Financial Services, based in New York.  In his role, Frank is responsible for funding Prime’s margin loan business, which provides long levered financing to Prime’s hedge fund client base.  His team is also responsible for financial resource management, including balance sheet and liquidity management.

Since joining J.P. Morgan in 2004, Frank has held roles in Technology, Agency Lending, and Prime Financial Services.  He has been involved in numerous mentoring programs, advocacy programs and is currently a North America Mobility Program Lead in Markets.

Frank holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Villanova University.  He resides on Long Island, New York, with his wife Danielle, and their children, Rita, Frankie, and Emilia.

Thomas manages the Regulatory Reporting department within the Controllers Division at Goldman Sachs, where he is responsible for ensuring that the firm’s US broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, swap dealers and securities-based swap dealers comply with SEC and CFTC financial regulations. In addition, Thomas serves as the chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs Financial Markets, LP, the firm’s over-the-counter derivatives dealer.

Thomas previously worked at Credit Suisse First Boston and Salomon Brothers Inc., where he managed external and regulatory reporting for both firms’ respective US broker-dealers, as well as at Price Waterhouse as a senior accountant, where he planned and supervised audit and consulting engagements across banking, transportation, manufacturing, consumer products and nonprofit clients.

Thomas is the chair of the SIFMA Capital Committee, an industry-wide committee that works with the SEC, CFTC, FINRA, CME and NFA to address US regulatory issues. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Thomas earned a BS in Accounting from New York University in 1981 and an MBA from the Executive MBA Program at New York University Stern School of Business. He is a certified public accountant.

Mike is a member of the Regulatory Strategy, Industry Affairs, and Tax team for BNY’s Securities Finance business. He also serves in a product advisory role. Prior to BNY, Mike was a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Product Officer for securities finance at State Street Bank and Trust Company. In this role Mike was responsible for the global expansion of the agency and principal securities finance businesses through new product development, merger and acquisition, and product innovation. Prior to holding this position, he was the Senior Managing Counsel responsible for all legal matters with respect to the securities finance business of State Street. Prior to State Street, he held positions as a Senior Managing Counsel for the master trust and global custody business of Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company and as an ERISA attorney for the Boston law firm of Gaston & Snow. Mike is a former Chairman of the Securities Lending Committee of the Risk Management Association and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Risk Management Association. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of ISLA Americas. Mike holds a BA in economics from Boston College and a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School.

George Rennick is the Global Head of Tri-Party and the Head of Trading Services, Americas at J.P. Morgan. With over 30 years of experience in the Financial Services industry, George has demonstrated leadership and expertise across diverse lines of business. In his current role, he oversees the strategic direction and operations of the Tri-Party business, ensuring excellence in service delivery and client satisfaction.

Before assuming his current position, George was responsible for J.P. Morgan’s Agency Securities Finance business in the Americas and the Relationship Management team globally. His career includes roles at Nomura, Barclays, Lehman Brothers, Neuberger Berman, Goldman Sachs, and Prudential Securities. George held leadership positions in prime finance, responsible for sales, trading, client service, and product development.

George’s experience extends to asset management compliance, trading system design and implementation and client service and project leadership in private wealth. He began his career in operations.

George currently sits on the ISLA Americas board of directors. He is a former board member of EquiLend Holdings LLC and the Risk Management Association “RMA” Securities Lending Council

George holds a Bachelor of Science from The State University of New York at Plattsburgh and a Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Jeffrey L. Robins is a corporate partner and a member of the Banking Group. His practice focuses on representing broker-dealers, swap dealers, banks, securities exchanges, industry associations and buy-side institutions in regulatory and transactional matters.

Throughout his career, Mr. Robins has carved out a reputation as a leading broker-dealer and derivatives lawyer with a sophisticated practice. Recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global (2024) and IFLR1000 (2022), a top-tier lawyer by Chambers USA (2024) and recommended by The Legal 500 US (2023), he is noted for his regulatory and transactional skills and described by clients as “very sharp on transactional work” and “a strong broker-dealer lawyer who provides great client service in a timely manner.” Sources say that he has “a deep understanding of market practices and conventions,” “great judgment” and he is said to be “an excellent communicator,” “a great intellect,” a “go-to lawyer on transactional work that presents unique or new issues,” a “swap dealer expert,” and a “very technically capable lawyer.” He has substantial experience helping clients navigate registration, margin, capital, custody, and sales and trading issues, cross-border transactions, structuring transactions using multiple regulated entities, the development of compliance and supervisory policies and procedures, the regulatory characterization of securities and derivatives transactions and a number of other regulatory issues. He also has extensive transactional experience in bilateral financing and derivatives transactions, particularly those that are heavily regulated. In addition, Mr. Robins is ranked in Chambers in both the broker-dealer regulation and derivatives categories.

Mr. Robins joined Debevoise in 2018. Prior to joining Debevoise, Mr. Robins was a partner at an international law firm, where he also served as co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Group.

Mr. Robins received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and earned an M.A. in Russian and East European Studies and a B.A. with distinction from Stanford University. He also served as a clerk for the Hon. Cynthia Holcomb Hall of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Anthony manages the US Client Asset Protection calculations within the Controllers Regulatory Reporting team at Goldman Sachs.  He is responsible for ensuring that the US broker-dealer and Futures Commission Merchant comply with SEC and CFTC rules associated with the protection of customer assets.    Anthony also chairs the US Client Asset Steering Council responsible for ensuring initiatives are designed and implemented to adhere to customer protection rules and regulations.  Previously, Anthony worked within the Controllers Risk Governance team supporting the firm’s compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. Prior to that, he held various roles within Controllers and Operations focused on strategic initiatives and books and records implementations.

Greg Szabo is Executive Director of Prime Services at Nomura Securities International, where he leads strategic initiatives across the prime services platform. He previously served as Head of Product Development for TD Prime Services, driving innovation and client solutions. Earlier, Greg held senior leadership roles at Credit Suisse overseeing global equities operations and at UBS in prime brokerage and collateral management. With over two and a half decades of experience, he is widely regarded as a leading expert in prime brokerage, prime finance, and customer protection rules.

John is Managing Director and was named Global Head of Securities Finance Client Coverage for BNY Markets in January 2022.  John joined BNY in 2000 and, prior to assuming his current responsibilities, held a number of business development positions within BNY’s Markets, Global Collateral Services, Broker/ Dealer Services, Global Client Management and Securities Industry Banking divisions.

William manages Equity Finance for the Americas for CITI,  which encompasses Securities Lending Sales and Trading, and Delta 1 Sales Trading.  He has been in the industry for 36 years, and has recently passed his 26 year anniversary at CITI.

Jane Wagner is a technical expert for the International Securities Lending Association Americas (ISLA Americas).

In her role, Jane helps lead ISLA Americas’ advocacy agenda, engaging with regulators, central banks, exchanges, and other key stakeholders to advance recognition of the securities lending market and represent the perspectives of the Association’s members. She provides in‑depth analysis of regulatory, legal, operational, and counterparty developments across the region, and oversees ISLA Americas’ working groups as well as the development and publication of thought‑leadership materials.

Before joining ISLA Americas, Jane spent 11 years at Vanguard, where she served as Global Head of the Vanguard Securities Lending Program. She oversaw all trading, operations, and strategic development functions for the program. Earlier in her career, Jane held senior legal and finance positions on both the buy and sell side at institutions including BlackRock, Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citibank, and ING. She has been an active contributor to the securities lending and financing industry throughout her career and previously served as a member of the Securities Lending

Executive Council.

Jane holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. While attending law school, she completed an internship at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.