PRESS RELEASE
 

Sygnum adds SBI and Prudential tech-heavyweightsto Board of Directors

Zurich, 12 July 2022 – Sygnum strengthens its core technology leadership team and digital transformation capabilities with the addition of two executives to its Board of Directors, Fernando Luis Vázquez Cao, CEO of SBI Digital Asset Holdings, and Al-Noor Ramji*, Tata Motors board member and former Prudential Chief Digital Officer.

• Appointees have extensive experience leading technology teams through high-growth transformations
• Further strengthens the company’s technology, innovation, governance and security capabilities
• Following Sygnum’s January USD 800m post-money valuation, executives join as Sygnum further scales its secure digital platform, enters new markets and co-develops innovative solutions with strategic investors

Fernando Luis Vázquez Cao

Fernando Luis Vázquez Cao is an open-source software industry veteran with over twenty years’ experience across technology innovation and governance, capital markets and digital assets and holds unparalleled knowledge of the Asian financial services sector from both a business and technical perspective. He is currently CEO of SBI Digital Asset Holdings, part of the TSE-listed financial conglomerate SBI Group, with advisory, tokenization and issuance, digital exchange, and digital custody business lines under his remit.

Fernando’s career began in academia where he first became deeply involved with the budding Linux community. This led him to the corporate world with a number of roles at the NTT Group, eventually becoming a founding member and technical director of NTT's Open Source Software Center, where he built a team that made major contributions to open source projects that underpin modern cloud and Internet services. He then transitioned into the fintech world, joining Japanese giant SBI, where he held C-level business and technical positions before assuming his current role in July 2020. He is also a board member of regulated financial institutions in Asia and Europe and the Cardano Foundation.

Commenting on the announcement, Fernando Luis Vázquez Cao said, “I look forward to joining the Sygnum team at such a pivotal time in their development, and to contributing my technology experience to bringing their inspiring vision of Future Finance securely and rapidly to new global audiences.”

Al-Noor Ramji has extensive experience in large-scale transformations across the banking, technology and software industries, successfully leading organisations through phases of high growth and global expansion. He is a Tata Motors Board member and former Group Chief Digital Officer of Prudential plc, a listed global financial services group with over 18 million customers, where he founded and built the first Asian and African platform-based ecosystem businesses as well as the super app ‘Pulse” for rapid growth of new generation customers. Prior to this, Al-Noor managed technology funds for Silicon Valley venture capital firm Northgate, and held CEO and EVP positions at Misys, BT Group, Calypso Technologies and the Swiss Bank Corporation.

“Sygnum is entering a new phase of its operations where driving the scalability and agility of its technology platform is central to enabling future growth. I welcome the opportunity to contribute my experience to Sygnum’s Board and technology leadership as they continue to shape the development of the global digital asset ecosystem,” says
Al-Noor Ramji.

Both technology leaders join Sygnum at an important time. Following its January USD 90m funding round and reaching the milestones of USD 2 billion Assets under Administration and over 1,000 global clients, Sygnum is accelerating its plans to further scale its secure digital platform, enter new international markets and co-develop solutions with strategic investors. They join the experienced Sygnum Board comprised of Sygnum Co-Founder and Chairman Luka Müller, Vice-Chairwoman Gabriela Maria Payer, former MAS executive committee member Chua Kim Leng, Sygnum Co-Founder Manuel Krieger, Swiss Life board member Thomas Buess and former UBS Group CEO, Peter Wuffli.

Sygnum Co-Founder and Chairman Luka Müller adds, “I am delighted to welcome Fernando and Al-Noor to the Sygnum Board and look forward to working with them to further strengthen our technology leadership, governance and innovation capabilities. “

ENDS
 

*Appointment pending FINMA and Sygnum EGM approval

About Sygnum

Sygnum is the world’s first digital asset bank, and a digital asset specialist with global reach. With Sygnum Bank AG’s Swiss banking licence, as well as Sygnum Pte Ltd’s capital markets services (CMS) licence in Singapore, Sygnum empowers professional and institutional clients or qualified investors (e.g., corporates, banks, and other financial institutions) to invest in the digital asset economy with complete trust. Sygnum operates an independently controlled, scalable, and future-proof regulated banking platform. Our interdisciplinary team of banking, investment, and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) experts is shaping the development of a trusted digital asset ecosystem. The company is founded on Swiss and Singapore heritage and operates globally. To learn more about Sygnum, please visit www.sygnum.com.

Disclaimer: This document was prepared by Sygnum Bank AG. This document may contain forward looking statements and may be subject to change. The opinions expressed herein are those of Sygnum Bank AG, its affiliates, and partners at the time of writing. The document is for informational purposes only and contains general material. It is for use by the recipient only. It does not constitute any advice or recommendation, an offer or invitation by or on behalf of Sygnum Bank AG to purchase or sell assets or securities. It is not intended to be used as a general guide to investing and should be used for informational purposes only. When making an investment decision, you should either conduct your own research and analysis or seek advice from an expert to make a calculated decision. The information and analyses contained in this document have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable. However, Sygnum Bank AG makes no representation as to its reliability or completeness and disclaims all liability for losses arising from the use of this information.