Yesterday the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) announced it has a new leader. David Newns from State Street will be taking the reigns on October 6, subject to FINMA approval. Current SDX leader Tim Grant is moving to crypto asset manager Galaxy Digital as head of Europe. He joins Galaxy next week, according to TheBlock.
It’s almost exactly two years since the departure of the first SDX leader was announced. Martin Halblaub left in 2019 over strategic differences, apparently because SDX would not be a separate legal entity and remains part of the SIX Group that operates both the Swiss stock market and major payment systems, as well as owning the Spanish exchange BME.
Grant, who took over in March 2020, referred to himself as CEO of SDX, but that’s a term that SIX avoided because SDX is part of the same company.
“We have received the draft FMI licenses for SIX Digital Exchange AG and SDX Trading AG from FINMA and have responded within the consultation period with no concerns or issues so that we expect the formalization of the licenses to follow shortly,” said Thomas Zeeb, Chairman SDX and Member of the Executive Board, SIX.
“Tim and his team have defined a roadmap for SDX to both build out the existing ecosystem and expand its franchise further as a fully-regulated operational infrastructure for the digital securities markets of the future.”
Zeeb thanked Grant for his work and said, “David brings with him the background and experience to take us forward and extend the reach of the SDX platform throughout the industry.” Neems is a 15-year veteran of State Street, currently as Global Head of Global Link Execution Services, which includes the FXConnect and Currenex platforms. Currenex is also used for digital assets.
