Thursday, May 30, 2019

Blockchain Clearing: So There I Was, Perusing the Latest From Securities Lending Times

And saw their top story was:

"IHS Markit appoints new head of Asia Pacific"
IHS Markit has appointed Stewart Cowan as head of Asia Pacific (APAC) securities finance product, effective from 3 June. 
 Based in Sydney, Cowen will report to Paul Wilson, managing director and global head of securities finance at IHS Markit.

Cowen will oversee all regional activities with a focus on business development and strategy execution, identifying growth markets and synergistic data sources, and introducing new services and solutions for beneficial owners.

With 30 years of experience in financial services and 15 years of applied expertise in securities finance, Cowen joins IHS Markit from fintech firm Digital Asset Holdings, where he served as a senior product manager for distributed ledger technology and smart contract solutions.
Prior to this, Cowen served at J.P. Morgan as the APAC head of trading services, responsible for regional business growth and client management in the agent lending segment. Cowen has also held senior roles at State Street and Perpetual Trustees.....MORE
Well that's odd, wasn't Digital Asset Holdings supposed to be rolling out a settlement program for the Australian Securities Exchange?

Why yes, yes they were: "ASX opens testing center for blockchain-based post-trade system"
(TokenPost, May 7)
And yet one of the honchos at DAH has resigned? And this follows on the resignation of THE honcho, Blythe Masters, in December:
Blythe Masters Quits As CEO of Blockchain Co., Digital Asset

As the man said: huh.

Earlier:
Germany's Central Bank Smashes Arguments For Currency, Securities Settlement Via Blockchain