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The 2014 Tech 50: Catherine Bessant

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Catherine Bessant
Global Technology and Operations Executive
Bank of America Corp.

Reflecting on one of the biggest jobs in financial technology — or anywhere in banking, for that matter — Catherine Bessant waxes philosophical: “Is technology a supporting element of banking, or is it what we sell?” Bank of America Corp., of which Bessant has been global technology and operations executive since 2010, had 238,560 full-time employees as of March 31. Today, with a $17 billion operating budget, Bessant’s group consists of some 124,000 staff and contractors, 40,000 of whom came on in April, indicating how the balance is tipping at $2.1 trillion-in-assets BofA. “We still have to deliver on all the traditional fronts, reducing the cost of providing services, [ensuring] stability and platform performance,” says Bessant, 54, who previously served as BofA’s president of global corporate banking and chief marketing officer. “But innovation is increasingly about technology capabilities,” which will be critical to growth and competitiveness. Emphasizing the importance of intellectual property, the Charlotte, North Carolina–based bank obtained 265 patents last year, 62 percent more than in 2012. “Think about the transformation of our business model against a backdrop of serving 30 million active online customers and 15 million mobile customers,” Bessant says, noting that delivery channels are changing and customer loyalties can swing in a world of handheld devices and social media. She regards regulatory change as “an opportunity to make our work better. You can’t motivate a large technology and operations organization if you classify a significant portion of the work as a burden.”

The 2014 Tech 50

1
1
3
4
5
Thomas Secunda
Bloomberg
Jeffrey Sprecher
Intercontinental Exchange
Catherine Bessant
Bank of America Corp.
Stephen Neff
Fidelity Investments
Lance Uggla
Markit
6
7
8
9
10
Robert Goldstein
BlackRock
David Craig
Thomson Reuters
Phupinder Gill
CME Group
Anna Ewing
NASDAQ
OMX Group
R. Martin Chavez
Goldman Sachs Group
11
12
13
14
15
Deborah Hopkins
Citi Ventures
Dan Mathisson
Credit Suisse
Daniel Coleman
KCG Holdings
Michael Spencer
ICAP
Michael Bodson
Depository Trust &
Clearing Corp.
16
17
18
19
20
Joe Ratterman
BATS Global Markets
Dominique Cerutti
Euronext
Ron Levi
GFI Group
Gaurav Suri
D.E. Shaw Group
Charles Li
Hong Kong
Exchanges and
Clearing
21
22
23
24
25
Lou Eccleston
S&P Capital IQ
Lee Olesky
Tradeweb Markets
Richard McVey
MarketAxess Holdings
Seth Merrin
Liquidnet Holdings
Antoine
Shagoury

London Stock
Exchange Group
26
27
28
29
30
Christopher
Perretta

State Street Corp.
Kevin Rhein
Wells Fargo & Co.
Peter Carr
Morgan Stanley
Hauke Stars
Deutsche Börse
Robert Alexander
Capital One
Financial Corp.
31
32
33
34
35
David Gershon
SuperDerivatives
Chris Corrado
MSCI
Joseph Squeri
Citadel
Tanuja Randery
BT Global Services
John Bates
Software AG
36
37
38
39
40
Gary Scholten
Principal Financial Group
David Gledhill
DBS Bank
Simon Garland
Kx Systems
Cristóbal Conde
FinTech Innovation Lab
Jeff Parker
EidoSearch
41
42
43
44
45
Kim Fournais &
Lars Seier Christensen

Saxo Bank
Kenneth Marlin
Marlin & Associates
Tyler Kim
MaplesFS
Jim McGuire
Charles Schwab Corp.
Jim Minnick
eVestment
46
47
48
49
50
Steven O’Hanlon
Numerix
Sebastián Ceria
Axioma
Yasuki Okai
Nomura Research Institute
Niki Beattie
Market Structure Partners
Mas Nakachi
OpenGamma

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