Ray Ferguson, the former chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Singapore, has joined homegrown fintech startup Hashstacs (STACS) as chairman.
In his new role, Ferguson will support STACS with its deeper understanding of capital markets and how boards of multinationals think about emerging disruptive technologies, further developing its business strategy and strengthening its standards of governance.
Under Ferguson’s leadership, STACS will pursue various projects, including a fund raising later this year to scale its business, onboarding more strategic investors, and furthering its ecosystem expansion with more industry partners, especially in the areas of ESG (environmental, social and governance) and green fintech.
In a statement, Ferguson says: “One thing I’ve learned over my career is that if you’re going to be a chairman, you have to work with a great team. I have been impressed with the STACS team and the numerous qualities they have shown, which is first and key – the rapport, camaraderie, and shared vision. I believe STACS has the potential to become a globally renowned infrastructure player for the financial services sector built on its DLT (distributed ledger technology) backbone, leveraging the proven strength of governance and infrastructure here in Singapore.”
Benjamin Soh, STACS co-founder and managing director, says: “Where Ray can really help us is with getting to that next rung on the ladder, and I look forward to our team gaining immensely from his knowledge and network in capital markets, as well as his prior experience in scaling a technology startup unicorn. Together with Ray, I believe that we can bring STACS forward into a phase of accelerated growth.”
In addition to his new role at STACS, Ferguson also holds other roles including as chairman of Singapore-based technology insurance platform Aviva Singlife Holdings.
In December 2020, Malaysia’s national stock exchange Bursa Malaysia partnered with STACS to conclude a trial using blockchain technology to facilitate the growth of the bond marketplace via its Labuan Financial Exchange.
In January Deutsche Bank collaborated with STACS on a strategic initiative related to the technological and practical feasibility of digital assets interoperability, liquidity, cross-border connectivity, and smart contract templates.
STACS also announced last week that it is now a portfolio company of PwC Singapore’s Venture Hub programme, which it says will help elevate the trust placed in DLT by the financial services industry and drive its adoption.
