People moves: OKEx, Trustly, and more

OKEx names a new COO

Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange provider OKEx announced on January 7 that its chief operations officer (COO) Andy Cheung has resigned.

Commenting over his resignation Cheung said: “My goal is to drive mass cryptocurrency adoption. But my contribution can be very limited in a cryptocurrency exchange.

Cheung has been chief executive officer (CEO) of OKEx since it launched. He was responsible for overlooking the entire operations, marketing, and public relations of the company.

He will start a new blockchain consultancy institute called BitWork. Prior to OKEx, he had served as the CEO and a variety of key roles in Groupon Hong Kong, iClick Interactive, and Alibaba.

Commenting further over his resignation Cheung said: “I decided, and we agreed amicably, that I can better achieve my goals with a new venture. Still, it’s been an absolute pleasure to have served OKEx.”

Argo Blockchain appoints a new CEO

London cryptocurrency and cryptomining company Argo Blockchain announced on January 2, Peter Wall has been named as the company’s new CEO.

According to Argo Blockchain, after appointing Wall, the company climbed 10 percent to 6.15p. The company also announced that its non-executive director Gil Penchina has stepped down from her role. Penchina will be succeeded by Ian Macleod, former corporate secretary of Canadian social networking services firm Teligence.

Gemini announces new chief compliance officer appointment

New York based financial services company Gemini announced on January 28, Blair Halliday has been appointed as the new chief compliance officer.

Halliday will be responsible for Gemini Europe’s compliance program. He will report to Julian Sawyer, Gemini’s managing director of the UK and Europe.

Halliday had been CCO for crypto finance firm, Circle, across Europe and the Middle East and Africa. He was also the executive director of financial crime and compliance at CashFlows.

BGC Partners appoints a new chief financial officer

Financial services company BGC Partners appointed Steven Bisgay as its new chief financial officer, effective January 1. Bisgay will replace Sean A. Windeatt the present interim CFO, while Windeatt will remain in his role as chief operating officer.

Chairman of the Board and CEO Howard W. Lutnick said: “Steve is a tremendous asset for BGC, and we strongly value his industry experience”.

Bisgay possesses over 30 years of experience in the securities and financial services industry.

“It was clear to us that Steve was the strongest candidate for this role. His in-depth knowledge of our business, experience with electronic trading companies, strong relationship with our lenders, bankers, and the marketplace will be invaluable as we continue to accelerate our strategy to further spread automation and technology across the financial markets,” added Lutnick.

Trustly appoints new chairman

Sweden-based online banking payment provider Trustly announced on January 16, it has appointed Johan Tjärnberg as chairman of its board of directors.

Commenting on the appointment Nordic Capital Partner Fredrik Näslund said: “Mr Tjärnberg has an incredible wealth of knowledge of the payments industry and valuable experience in building and scaling successful companies internationally, which makes him ideal to guide Trustly in becoming the global leader in account-to-account payments.”

According to the press release, Tjärnberg was the mastermind behind Bambora, an international payments processor for in-store and online retailers. After Bambora was acquired by Ingenico, Tjärnberg was appointed as EVP of small and medium businesses and later served as EVP of Retail Business at Ingenico.

Trustly CEO Oscar Berglund added: “Mr. Tjärnberg’s insights and expertise within the payments industry will make him a great asset to Trustly as we accelerate our development for our payments products to the benefit of our merchants and their customers.”

Trustly announced the appointment soon after it merged with Silicon Valley-based online banking payments company PayWithMyBank to spearhead its US expansion.

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