People moves: PCI Pal, Ripple, and more

PCI Pal announces new CRO

UK-based card payment solutions firm PCI Pal promoted Daren Gill to chief revenue officer on July 2. Gill was vice president of the firm’s channel sales in North America and held various director level positions at Genesys. In addition, Cèsar Branco has moved to the US to take up the position of North American Senior Telephony Architect.

In a release, the firm’s CEO James Barham said: “Expanding our global footprint is a huge priority for PCI Pal, and I feel confident that Darren and Cèsar will continue to be instrumental in moving this forward in their new roles. Between Darren’s 20+ years of channel and sales experience, Cesar’s extensive background in IP telecommunications and contact centre software, and new AWS instances in key regions, PCI Pal adds to its foundations enabling the provision of reliable and secure payment solutions to companies all around the world.”

PayFacto appoints former McKinsey man

Location-headquartered payment solutions provider PayFacto has appointed Frèdèric Gascon as chief operating officer, the company announced in a press release on July 3. Gascon has more than 20 years of experience in operations and corporate development as senior level or consultant roles. He has held various senior level and consultant positions at McKinsey & Co, Bombardier Transportation and Secor Consulting.

Martin Leroux, president and CEO of PayFacto said, “We are very proud to have an executive of Gascon’s calibre with us. His remarkable expertise in terms of innovation, corporate optimization and international growth adds additional competence and depth to our management team at a time when PayFacto is undergoing dynamic growth.”

Former Ripple exec to lead Binance’s US expansion as new exchange CEO

US-based firm BAM Trading Services which will be operating Binance US expansion has announced the appointment of Catherine Coley as its new chief executive officer on 2 July. Coley will be overseeing the expansion of Binance in US and its marketplace in North America. Prior to this, she has worked in institutional foreign exchange market at Morgan Stanley and managed international payments and global treasury management for start-ups at Silicon Valley Bank.

“I am confident that with Coley’s leadership and Binance’s leading technology platform, Binance.US will be able to provide valuable services to the US community.” said founder and CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao.

Bitstamp hires Caitlin Barnett as US chief compliance officer

Global cryptocurrency exchange firm Bitstamp announced the appointment of Caitlin Barnett as its new chief compliance officer and she will be taking up the position at Bitstamp’s New York office along with the upcoming appointment of Hunter Merghart as head of US operations. Prior to joining Bitstamp, Barnett worked as deputy chief compliance officer at Gemini, assistant vice president and senior counsel at JPMorgan Chase and assistant vice president compliance officer at Commerzbank.

Commenting on the appointment, CEO of Bitstamp, Nejc Kodrič said, “We’ve always believed in the need for effective regulation. Our goal is to provide a safe and transparent trading venue. To achieve that goal in the US, we were looking for a senior compliance professional. Caitlin’s experience makes her an excellent fit for this role, and we are pleased to have her lead our compliance management processes.”

Celsius Network announces new general counsel and CCO

On July 24, New York-headquartered cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network has recruited Jeremie Beaudry as its new general counsel and chief compliance officer. Beaudry is vastly experienced in corporate counselling, risk mitigation, and risk management. Previously, he served as Chief Compliance Officer at BitPay and has worked as an attorney for the Georgia General Assembly and went on to become corporate counsel for OnCourse Learning Corp.

In a press release Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network said: “Jeremie Beaudry will make a strong addition to the Celsius team,” said Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network. “At BitPay, Beaudry led a strong risk and compliance team, that followed the applicable rules and regulations across different countries and continents. His expertise in this field will be invaluable for Celsius as we expand our network.”

CSI announces appointment of new chief financial officer

US-based B2B payment solutions Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI) has named Olivier Raguis as new chief financial officer on July 2. Raguis has extensive experience as chief financial officer of various Edenred business units in managing large financial teams, compliance, risk management and several legal-centric process.

David Disque, President of CSI commented on the appointment: “Olivier has a deep understanding of the B2B payments landscape and we view him as a critical asset to our executive team. His track record speaks for itself and we look forward to his collaborative contribution and direction as we assess new opportunities that increase our profitability and trajectory in the B2B payments space.”

Tradewind hires ex-BNY Mellon executive Leon Shklar as new CTO

New York-headquartered financial technology company Tradewind has appointed Leon Shklar as chief technology officer. Shklar will oversee firm’s technology including architecture, infrastructure, business applications and innovation. Previously, Shklar has served as managing director (technology) at BNY Mellon and has held various technical managing roles at the New York Times, Thomson Reuters, and Wall Street Journal.

In a release Michael Albanese, chief executive officer of Tradewind said: “Leon is a highly accomplished technologist with a history of successful implementation of web, mobile, and retail platforms across notable technology, finance, and media firms. He has a proven track record of delivering large-scale internet applications and has built and led global software development teams.”

Related reading