Phillip DeFeo, chairman and chief executive officer of the Pacific Exchange (PCX), the US derivatives exchange, has been appointed to the board of directors of Computershare, the Australian global share registry.

The move is aimed at strengthening Computershare's US presence and follows a similar move at its European operations earlier this year when Iain Saville, the former head of Crest, the UK central securities depository, joined the company as European managing director and board member.