Nasdaq Names A New Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Youngwood

Nasdaq has appointed Sarah Youngwood as the new chief financial officer (CFO). Before his appointment, Youngwood served as an executive at Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG. Youngwood will assume her new role at the exchange operator on December 1.

Nasdaq Appoints Former UBS Executive As New CFO

Youngwood will replace the current Nasdaq CFO, Ann Dennison. Dennison will continue serving as the finance head at Nasdaq until the end of the year. Besides serving at UBS, Youngwood has worked at other leading financial institutions.

Before assuming an executive role at UBS, Youngwood served as the financial chief for the Consumer & Community Banking division at JPMorgan Chase. She also held several positions during the 25 years that she worked at JPMorgan.

Youngwood served as the Chief Financial Officer and the Group Executive Board Member at UBS Group. She held a critical role at the Swiss bank in modernizing the bank’s infrastructure. She also assisted in the acquisition of Credit Suisse. She left the Swiss bank after the Credit Suisse acquisition deal was complete.

The current Nasdaq CFO, Dennison, also had extensive experience. She joined Nasdaq in 2015 as the chief accounting officer before being promoted to CFO in March 2021. Before joining Nasdaq, Dennison held the role of head of financial reporting at Goldman Sachs.

The Chair and Chief Executive Officer at Nasdaq, Adena Friedman, noted that Dennison had significantly contributed to the company over the years. She played a crucial role in acquiring Adenza and was vital in transforming Nasdaq’s global Finance function.

Sarah has served in many high-profile leadership roles at UBS and JPMorgan Chase, and her expertise in technology transformation, in-depth knowledge of global financial institutions, and first-hand experience with investors will make her an invaluable addition to the Nasdaq leadership team,” Friedman said.

Youngwood Joins Nasdaq As Exchange Reshapes Its Role In Finance

The appointment of Youngwood at Nasdaq comes as Friedman works on reshaping the exchange operator as a leading player in the financial technology sector. The company has made several efforts to reshape its offerings in the industry.

In June, Nasdaq agreed to purchase a software company called Adenza. The purchase was done for $10.5 billion and was part of the company’s strategy to expand its offerings.

In 2022, Nasdaq restructured its operations into three key units to diversify its technology and intellectual property portfolio. The company was also working on promoting growth in key areas and transitioning from traditional offerings such as equities trading.

Youngwood is not the only new appointment that Nasdaq has made this year. Earlier this year, the exchange operator appointed Nelson Griggs and Tal Cohen as presidents. The appointments allowed the company to formalize its corporate structure and ramp up efforts to support growth across key areas, including launching software that addresses anti-financial crime.