People moves: Santander, Bank of America, and more

B2C2 appoints Catalanello CEO of US operations

On March 21, UK-based cryptocurrency liquidity provider B2C2 announced the appointment of former Credit Agricole and Merrill Lynch head Rob Catalanello as its US chief executive officer. Catalanello has spent over 25 years building and managing global businesses and covering institutional clients at leading investment banks. Previously he held various senior roles at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. He also served on the New York Federal Reserve FX Markets Committee for nine years.

Speaking to The Trade Crypto, Catalanello commented: “I look forward to bringing B2C2s world-class cryptocurrency offering to the US market. B2C2 displayed exceptional foresight in offering the industry’s first single dealer platform three years ago and will continue to bring FX market know-how and best practices to the digital asset class.”

Washburn appointed nChain CEO

UK-based global leading blockchain technology innovators nChain welcomed David Washburn as its new chief executive officer on March 7.  Washburn will replace Jimmy Nguyen, who has been appointed chair of nChain’s strategic advisory board. With his appointment, the company hopes to be able to expand the growth and influence of its blockchain technologies.

In a press release Nguyen said: “nChain’s professional service division has experienced significant growth over the last year, working with clients across financial services. With the addition of David Washburn, we are looking to significantly scale and deliver value to all of our clients across the globe.”

Santander hires chief platform officer

Spain-based multinational Santander confirmed the appointment of Aiaz Kazi as its new chief platform officer on March 4. In his new role, he will work to improve customer service and product deliveries and will report directly to chief digital and innovation officer, Lindsey Argalas. Kaiz joins the bank from Google, where he was the head of platform ecosystem for Google Cloud and helped SAP to become one of the most successful enterprise platforms by launching and shaping SAP HANA.

Commenting upon his appointment in a press release, Kazi said: “I join Santander at a truly exciting moment in its 160-year history. I’m eager to apply my experience to build an open financial services platform business delivering on Santander’s bold vision, and an even bigger opportunity to shape the future of financial services industry transforming the experience of millions of people and businesses.”

Bank of America names new co-heads of UK investment banking

On March 11, Bank of America announced the appointment of James Robertson and Peter Luck as co-heads of UK investment banking. The announcement was made following the departure of Diego De Giorgi, head of global investment banking and Christian Meissner. Robertson joins the bank from UBS, where he spent 22 years, and where he recently headed its UK advisory business. Luck worked closely with Robertson at UBS where he spent 13 years before moving to Bank of America to help scale its corporate broking franchise in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is currently serving as the head of bank’s corporate broking business and will retain these responsibilities in addition to his new role.

They will directly report to Matt Cannon and Richard King, co-heads of UK & Ireland corporate and investment banking and Luigi Rizzo, head of EMEA investment banking.

Graph Blockchain appoints new CEO

Canada-based blockchain technology company Graph Blockchain announced the resignation of Peter Kim as chief executive officer and director (CEO) effective February 15. The blockchain company has hired Jeffrey Stevens as its new CEO and has appointed Andrew Ryu as chairman of the board of directors.

“I would like to thank the board for entrusting me with the role of CEO. I am incredibly excited to assume the position and for the future of Graph Blockchain. We have an exceptionally talented team that is focused on continuing to innovate our product in new and diverse ways and unlocking future growth opportunities,” said Jeffrey Stevens, in a press release.

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