Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. said it hired Charles Sweeney as a managing director and co-head of its U.S. equity trading division.
Sweeney will share responsibilities for the trading operation with Bart Leohner, who was appointed sole head of the desk in May. Under the new structure, Sweeney and Leohner will split all duties. There is no division of duties, according to a spokesperson. Both men report to Jarred Kessler, Cantor’s global head of equities.
Sweeney previously spent about three years at Susquehanna Financial Group as head of cash equity trading and sales trading. Before that, he spent about two years as co-head of U.S. cash trading and head of trading in the financial institutions group at Deutsche Bank. He also spent about 16 years at Merrill Lynch in a variety of equity trading roles, including a stint at wholesaler Herzog, Heine, Geduld.
Leohner has been with Cantor since 1997. Until February 2011, the equities trading desk was run by Ed Laux. The industry veteran spent eight years at Cantor, departing last year. Laux now works at CRT Capital Group in Stamford, Conn.
