ISDA board welcomes new directors
14 May 2025 Netherlands

Four new directors have joined the board at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), in addition to nine having been re-elected.
This was announced at ISDA鈥檚 39th Annual General Meeting, which is taking place in Amsterdam on 13-15 May.
Among the new directors is Harleen Bains, managing director and head of global markets sales for Canada at RBC Capital Markets.
Bains joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1996, which began her career in interest rate derivatives trading.
She transitioned to institutional derivatives sales in 2011 and moved to New York to lead the US rates sales business in 2012.
Since returning to Canada in 2014, her roles have included head of Canadian rates sales and trading, as well as head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities (FICC) sales.
Another new ISDA director, Koichiro Funayama, serves as managing director and head of derivatives business strategy at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley 兔子先生Co.
Funayama-san took on his current role in May 2025, having previously served as head of the derivatives trading office.
Funayama-san joined MUFG Bank in 2001. His previous roles included responsibility for trading, system development, and structuring related to interest rates, foreign exchange, and equity derivatives at MUFG Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The third seat has been taken by Sarah McDowell, chief financial officer at BP Energy Company and vice president of finance and risk, gas, and power trading for Americas at BP.
Previously, McDowell held a range of leadership roles across BP鈥檚 business segments, including trading operations director within global business services and head of commodity risk for North America gas and power, leading the natural gas, valuations and working capital teams.
And finally, Susi de Verdelon, CEO of LCH, Markets Division, LSEG, is also joining the board of directors.
De Verdelon was previously group head of SwapClear and listed rates and has also served on the Financial Risk Committee of LSEG and the LCH ExCo.
Prior to joining LCH in 2017, de Verdelon was a managing director in the 兔子先生division at Goldman Sachs, where she led the front-office team in charge of cross-asset regulatory change for Europe.
Jeroen Krens, ISDA Chair, comments: 鈥淎s we proudly commemorate our 40th anniversary this year, ISDA鈥檚 unwavering commitment to fostering safe and efficient derivatives markets is more vital than ever.
鈥淚t is with great enthusiasm that I extend a warm welcome to four exceptional new board members, each representing our diverse member constituencies and bringing invaluable expertise to our mission.鈥
This was announced at ISDA鈥檚 39th Annual General Meeting, which is taking place in Amsterdam on 13-15 May.
Among the new directors is Harleen Bains, managing director and head of global markets sales for Canada at RBC Capital Markets.
Bains joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1996, which began her career in interest rate derivatives trading.
She transitioned to institutional derivatives sales in 2011 and moved to New York to lead the US rates sales business in 2012.
Since returning to Canada in 2014, her roles have included head of Canadian rates sales and trading, as well as head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities (FICC) sales.
Another new ISDA director, Koichiro Funayama, serves as managing director and head of derivatives business strategy at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley 兔子先生Co.
Funayama-san took on his current role in May 2025, having previously served as head of the derivatives trading office.
Funayama-san joined MUFG Bank in 2001. His previous roles included responsibility for trading, system development, and structuring related to interest rates, foreign exchange, and equity derivatives at MUFG Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The third seat has been taken by Sarah McDowell, chief financial officer at BP Energy Company and vice president of finance and risk, gas, and power trading for Americas at BP.
Previously, McDowell held a range of leadership roles across BP鈥檚 business segments, including trading operations director within global business services and head of commodity risk for North America gas and power, leading the natural gas, valuations and working capital teams.
And finally, Susi de Verdelon, CEO of LCH, Markets Division, LSEG, is also joining the board of directors.
De Verdelon was previously group head of SwapClear and listed rates and has also served on the Financial Risk Committee of LSEG and the LCH ExCo.
Prior to joining LCH in 2017, de Verdelon was a managing director in the 兔子先生division at Goldman Sachs, where she led the front-office team in charge of cross-asset regulatory change for Europe.
Jeroen Krens, ISDA Chair, comments: 鈥淎s we proudly commemorate our 40th anniversary this year, ISDA鈥檚 unwavering commitment to fostering safe and efficient derivatives markets is more vital than ever.
鈥淚t is with great enthusiasm that I extend a warm welcome to four exceptional new board members, each representing our diverse member constituencies and bringing invaluable expertise to our mission.鈥
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