Head of State Street Global Markets
Nadine Chakar presides over a nearly 1,600-person division at State Street Global Markets, which handles 6% of the world's foreign exchange. Her team works with some of the largest fund managers, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds worldwide.
Chakar sees herself as a strategic bridge between cutting-edge technology and business operations — embracing change as a competitive advantage and using technology to create new business opportunities. Over the last year, she and her team have implemented such new technology as tokenization, digital assets, and distributed ledger capabilities, most notably to increase the velocity of liquidity to collateral management.
At the onset of the COVID-19 virus, Chakar demonstrated a shrewd ability to keep her division's business operations running smoothly. While the safety and health of her team was safeguarded through remote work, State Street's FX Connect platform remained robust enough to process record volumes.
"The highly regulated trading business has historically only occurred on trading floors," she said. "However, within weeks, we had an enhanced digital infrastructure to support 80% of staff working from home."
Chakar is active in State Street's global diversity efforts, serving as a member of the Leading Women group, a mentoring program for senior women throughout the organization. She is also the executive sponsor for the company's Sustainability Employee Network, which tries to raise awareness of sustainability issues and devise solutions to the world's pressing environmental problems.
Outside of State Street, she serves on the board of the Boston Medical Center — a distinction that holds extra significance for her, as both of her parents work in the medical field.
