
THE HISTORY OF FINANCIAL FUTURES
John J. Lothian & Company, Inc., MarketsWiki Education and John Lothian Productions are pleased to announce plans for a large scale video project to collect the history of the open outcry era and traders’ personal stories.
Additionally, John Lothian Productions plans to develop video documentaries about specific themes and subjects emerging from the collected personal histories.
The project is modeled on the Veterans History Project signed into law by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. In this case, rather than capturing the experiences of veterans of warfare and conflict, we are capturing the personal market experiences of those who participated in open outcry markets around the world. Traders from Chicago to London to Paris to Sydney to Singapore and beyond are welcome to submit videos.
William Knottenbelt – The History of Financial Futures – Part Two
William Knottenbelt was interviewed by John Lothian for The History of Financial Futures video series at the FIA EXPO 2022 as he was preparing to leave the CME Group. He joined the CME Group in 2008 after being approached by then CME Executive Bryan Durkin while Knottenbelt was the head of global futures for the Royal Bank of Scotland, which had been taken over by the U.K. government during the financial crisis that year.
William Knottenbelt – The History of Financial Futures – Part One
William Knottenbelt said he likes to call himself a third generation commodity trader. Both his father and grandfather were commodities traders and had their own firms in Indonesia. Despite that background, Knottenbelt said he thought he wanted to be an accountant.
That thought did not last long after he secured a job at a commodity firm and realized he wanted to be on the trading side. Czarnikow offered him a job in London, but Knottenbelt wanted to work in France, so he was sent to its French subsidiary.
FIA 50 Years of Financial Futures Celebration
2022 is the 50th anniversary of financial futures and the birth of the modern exchange traded derivatives markets. In this video, John Lothian News discusses the birth of the financial futures industry in 1972 and how it has evolved into a market that traded $53.9 billion contracts this year.
Otto Nageli – History of Financial Futures Part One: From SOFFEX to Eurex
Otto Nageli, a longtime futures and options executive, died on May 5, 2022. JLN interviewed him in May of 2019 for the History of Financial Futures video series.
Otto Nageli – The History of Financial Futures – Part Two: The Battle of the Bund; Burgenstock
In Part Two of Otto Nageli’s interview with JLN for the History of Financial Futures series, Nageli talked about the part DTB, the forerunner of Eurex, played in repatriating the bund contract and the establishment of Eurex.
Wolfgang Eholzer: The History of Financial Futures, Part 2
In part two of the interview with Wolfgang Eholzer for The History of Financial Futures video series from John Lothian News and MarketsWiki Education, Eholzer explains where the names of Eurex’s trade matching engine and other technology came from. Eurex wanted a short name that could be easily copyrighted and easily reproduced for other products.
John McPartland – The History of Financial Futures – JLN
Longtime Banker Played Key Role During Early Days of IMM Currency Deliveries John McPartland joined Continental Bank in 1973 after leaving the Air Force. He worked two years in the internal audit department where he learned about secured financing. He was honing his...
John Damgard – The History of Financial Futures
Longtime Washington Hand Who Led FIA, Reflects on the Start of CFTC, FIA and NFA as Financial Futures Began
John Damgard spoke in 2019 to John Lothian News for The History of Financial Futures video series, when he was attending the FIA conference in Boca Raton.
John Damgard was a key player in creating the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the 1970s. Many reasons pointed to the need for a regulator with greater capabilities than those of the Department of Agriculture, which had meager resources available for overseeing the agricultural futures of the day.
The History Behind SGX; An Interview with Rama Pillai for The History of Financial Futures – a JLN Interview Series
In 1978, the Gold Exchange of Singapore (GES) was created by some Singaporean bullion dealers. Then in the early 1980s, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and financial community leaders sent teams around the world to examine different market structures. One was sent to Chiago to examine the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Pillai said. The Singaporean team sent to Chicago liked the CME model and felt it would work well in Singapore. This led to the creation of the Singapore International Monetary Exchange or SIMEX.
Former CBOT General Counsel Scott Early – The History of Financial Futures – MarketsWiki Education
Scott Early first became involved with the Chicago Board of Trade as a litigator with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis when the exchange had a case go before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1970s. Then the Hunt Brothers silver corner hit and there were a lot more lawsuits for the CBOT to deal with, and Early grew closer to the CBOT as he helped the exchange deal with them.
The History of Financial Futures: Lee Oliver’s Journey Back to His Beginnings, Part 2
The most recent chapter of Lee Oliver’s career took him back into the world of banking and FX trading.
In the second of a two-part video interview with John Lothian, Oliver talked about his transition from a busy career as a freelance writer for Euromoney to a job writing and editing for Cititbank’s wire service.
The History of Financial Futures: Lee Oliver’s Career Turns Led Him From Brokering to Reporting, Part 1
Lee Oliver grew up in South London and in 1981 left school for a temporary stint at brokering — a prospect that seemed more financially appealing at the time than getting a university degree in German or history.
In this video interview with John Lothian, Oliver talks about his career as a market maker and FX trader for several banks, beginning with Midland and continuing at Continental and Nomura Banks.
The History of Financial Futures: Doug Harris Provides an Insider’s Look at Industry Innovation
Douglas E. Harris not only can talk about the History of Financial Futures, he was a part of its development.
In this video interview with John Lothian, Harris traces his beginnings in the industry back to 1975, when he began work as an associate for the then-small law firm Baer Marks & Upham and was assigned helping exchanges including Comex determine what rules it would need to file to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, then in its infancy.
Jim Marzano – The History of Financial Futures
Broker and Trader of Financial Futures at CBOT Shares Tales of Early-Day Hiccups Jim Marzano thought he was going to be a grain merchandiser at Stotler Grain. Instead, he ended up being a broker and a trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. In fact, he made the first...
Richard Sandor Makes History With Financial Futures – John Lothian News
Richard Sandor is known as the “father of financial futures,” a name given to him by the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Board of Trade for his work in helping to create 30-Year Treasury bond futures and many other financial contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade...


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