Richard Heckinger is a vice president and director of market analytics in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Previously, he served as an assistant vice president and as a senior policy advisor in the financial markets group. Heckinger started his career in securities and derivatives markets in 1973 at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve in 2007, Heckinger was head of the U.S. office of Deutsche Boerse and Eurex, the largest European derivatives exchange.

Heckinger has extensive international financial markets experience, having served as chief operating officer of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, and subsequently as chief executive of the Hong Kong Securities Clearing Corporation.

In addition, he has held various executive positions at the Montreal Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and State Street Corp in Boston. Heckinger has served on various industry groups including ISSA, SWIFT, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Payments Risk Working Group and Global Association of Risk Professionals.

Heckinger received a B.A. in mathematics from Illinois State University and an M.Phil. in economics from the London School of Economics and political science at the University of London.