Former UBS and IMF executives join blockchain settlement startup Fnality

Startups • August 21, 2019, 4:23AM EDT

Fnality International, which is building a blockchain-based system for settling financial transactions, has hired three new members for its senior management and advisory teams.

Two of the new members, Gary Chu and Adam Clarke, are former executives of Swiss investment banking giant UBS, while the third hire, Daniel Heller, has previously worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to an announcement Monday.

Chu, who previously worked as legal counsel and an executive director at UBS, has joined Fnality as general counsel. Clarke has joined the firm as chief technology officer (CTO), and has previously worked for UBS and JPMorgan. While Heller, a former executive director at the IMF, has joined Fnality as head of regulatory affairs.

All three will report to Rhomaios Ram, CEO of Fnality. The firm is developing a Utility Settlement Coin (USC), aiming to enable cheaper cross-border payments. It will initially support five currencies: the U.S. dollar (USD), the Canadian dollar (CAD), the British pound (GBP), the Japanese yen (JPY) and the euro (EUR).

“Our aim is to have the first USC live and connected to Use Cases in one currency in the second half of 2020,” Ram said in Monday’s announcement.

Back in June, Fnality raised about $60 million in Series A funding, and has some notable founding shareholders, including UBS, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Nasdaq, among others.

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.