EquiChain appoints former BNY Mellon exec to CIO role

London-based FinTech firm EquiChain has appointed Steve King as its new chief information officer, ending his near 15-year stint at BNY Mellon.

Nicholas Bone, founder and CEO of EquiChain, confirmed King took up his new role on Monday and will be responsible for “bridging the gap between blockchain technology and what clients want from it.”

King was formally a programme manager at BNY Mellon having initially joined the US custodian in 2002.

He also spent three years at Deutsche Bank between 1999 and 2002.

“There is no bigger challenge in the industry at the moment than harnessing blockchain and Steve’s ability to apply operational processes to the needs of the industry is second to none,” said Bone.

“We see his appointment as a real coup.”

BNY Mellon had not responded to request for comment at time of publication.

Earlier this year EquiChain unveiled its working blockchain prototype for capital markets with the intention of implementing a full end-to-end ‘execution to custody’ pilot in 2017.

The group has since added several industry veterans to its board including former group CEO at Standard Chartered Peter Sands as well as Hugh Madden, co-founder of blockchain provider ANX International.

Markus Ruetimann, former group chief operating officer at Schroders, also joined the project as senior advisor.

As part of the pilot venture EquiChain also established two working groups focusing on institutional investor as well as market infrastructure.

The market groups will aim to ensure effective deployment of the technology as well as ensuring regulatory compliance.