Brad Howell

Managing Director Head of Asia

Mr. Howell joined GFI in 2017 to lead GFI’s Asia Pacific businesses. In 2020 he was appointed the regional head of BGC Partners; retaining his GFI responsibilities. He was formerly the CEO of Australasia and Head of Global Broking, Asia Pacific for ICAP, and prior to that was a director of Rates at Tullet Prebon. Mr. Howell graduated with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in both Finance and Accounting from the University of Technology, Sydney and also received his Masters in Applied Finance, with a specialization in Financial Markets from Macquarie University.

Julian Swain

Senior Managing Director

Mr. Swain joined GFI in 2001 to head GFI’s European credit business. He became Managing Director – London in 2006. He then became a Senior Managing Director and became the Head of GFI London in March 2007. Mr. Swain also has overall responsibility for GFI’s Dublin, Dubai, Cape Town, and Nyon offices. Prior to joining GFI, Mr. Swain was at ICAP for 8 years, where he managed various credit desks. Mr. Swain graduated from Loughborough University in 1988 with an MSc in Economics and Management Science.

James Martin

Managing Director London

Mr. Martin joined GFI in 1992. As GFI’s Managing Director, London, Mr. Martin works alongside Mr. Swain in the running of the London brokerage business. Mr. Martin has held a number of roles at GFI, including the running of the FX cross options business, moving later into GFI’s e-Commerce division as a product manager in London, then New York. He returned to London in 2004 to set up GFI’s credit index desk and was also responsible for running GFI’s structured credit business. Before he joined GFI, Mr.Martin traded currency options and US government securities at Bank of New York.

Marc Souffir

Managing Director

Mr. Souffir joined GFI in 2005, as Manager Director of international futures and equities. He played a vital role in the establishment of GFI’s Paris office, and managed all brokerage desks operated out this office. Mr. Souffir has since taken on more responsibility, now managing and operating various European businesses and a multitude of brokerage desks throughout EMEA. He specifically focusses on overseeing the cash equities and financial futures business in Europe for GFI Securities. Prior to joining GFI in 2005 Mr. Souffir worked as Managing Director of REFCO’s Paris office. Prior to working at REFCO Mr. Souffir was responsible for various equities, equity derivatives, and financial futures products at IFF, a division of AXA.

Darryl Denyssen

Finance Director

Mr. Denyssen joined GFI in 2001 from JP Morgan Chase and became GFI’s Finance Director, Europe in January 2008. He has overall responsibility for the accounts receivable, accounts payable, business reporting and external reporting functions. Mr. Denyssen holds a BCompt (Bachelor of Accounting Science) and a post graduate CTA/BCompt from UNISA (University of South Africa).

Matt Woodhams

Head of E-commerce

Dr. Matt Woodhams joined GFI in 2000 and oversees product development, marketing and support of GFI’s trading platforms, their compliance with current regulatory requirements and positioning for upcoming regulatory changes. Previously he held various roles within the company, including global head of data and analytics and oversight of the FENICS business, while based in New York. In 2007, Dr. Woodhams returned to London to head up e-commerce for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Before joining GFI, he headed quantitative analysis at Garban/Harlow Butler, now known as ICAP. Dr. Woodhams holds a BSc in management science and a PhD in mathematics from Swansea University.

Hervé Alfon

Managing Director Paris

Mr. Alfon joined GFI in 2005 to co-run the European futures and equities business. He became Managing Director of GFI Paris in 2007. Prior to joining GFI, Mr. Alfon was Managing Director, Head of Front Office for Refco Securities Paris for 10 years. Mr Alfon graduated from Institut Supérieur de Gestion in 1990.

Stephane Chouffan

Managing Director Paris

Mr Chouffan joined GFI in 2008 as General Secretary, Paris. He has overall responsibility for the administration, finance and operations teams in Paris. Prior to joining GFI, Mr. Chouffan was General Secretary at Refco for 5 years. Mr. Chouffan holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Paris and a high level diploma in Professional Accounting.

Richard Giles

Managing Director Head of Americas Broking

Richard Giles joined GFI in 1993 and has worked across a number of divisions and products in both Hong Kong and in London, including currency options, energy and credit. In July 2010 he was appointed Managing Director – Head of Commodities and Energy Brokerage, North America, responsible for overseeing all of GFI’s commodity business in North America, including its subsidiary Amerex®. In April 2012, Mr Giles assumed the additional role of Head of GFI’s Fixed Income business in North America, responsible for all areas of fixed income including the Latium fixed income business, single-name credit default swaps, credit indices, corporate and high yield bonds, leveraged loans and structured credit, including index tranches. In May 2015, Mr Giles was promoted to the role of Head of Americas Broking, responsible for all of GFI’s North and Latin American brokerage businesses across all products within the Fixed Income, Rates, Commodities, Equities and Financial divisions of GFI.

Prash Naik

Chief Operating Officer Americas, EMEA, Asia-Pac

Mr. Naik joined GFI in 2000 from Prebon Marshall Yamane, where he was EMEA Financial Controller. Mr. Naik originally served as Finance Director for the Americas, based in New York. Since then, Mr. Naik has held a number of executive positions, most recently being that of Managing Director, Finance and Operations for EMEA, based in London. He managed and took responsibility for the European finance, credit/risk, compliance, legal, administration, settlements, operations, IT support and IT development teams over his tenure at GFI. In 2015, Mr. Naik was promoted, to Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the GFI Brokering Division globally and is now based in New York. Mr. Naik holds a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College, University of London and is a qualified member of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).