SWITZERLAND/UK- Werner Frey has been named as the new chief executive of the European Securities Forum, the group of banks pushing for cheaper cross border clearing and settlement across European exchanges.

A Swiss national, Frey was until 1997 a member of the executive board of Bank Leu, part of the Credit Suisse Group. More recent advisory work has been on the state of Europe’s securities infrastructure.

Frey will be partly based in Zurich thereby providing the ESF with a European presence in addition to that in London.

Frey’s appointment comes a month after Joan Beck was named as a replacement to the outgoing executive chairman CEO Pen Kent.

Following Kent's decision to retire, his role has been split into those of chairman and chief executive.

Beck’s background is in investment banking- he was deputy chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston from 1984-1995 and subsequently vice chairman of HSBC until 1999.

Beck says the goal of the forum is the integration of European capital markets by promoting the consolidation of clearing and settlement systems.