Securitize, a digital security platform that helps companies tokenize, manage, and trade assets, has announced that it has hired former SEC Trading and Markets Director Brett Redfearn as Senior Strategic Advisor. Redfearn will serve as Chairman of the company’s Advisory Board while advising Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo.
Redfern was previously a VP at Coinbase and also an executive at JP Morgan. While at the SEC, Redfearn sought to ensure the efficient and fair functioning of securities markets.
Domingo said when they founded Securitize they knew the digitization and democratization of finance that could be achieved using blockchain was only possible if we built the company in accordance with the existing securities law.
“Brett has dedicated his career to understanding, explaining, and shaping capital markets and the regulatory landscape in a way that is efficient, fair, and protects investors. As Securitize continues developing regulated, digitized financial products and trading of digital asset securities, our company and board will benefit tremendously from Brett’s perspective and guidance.”
Domingo pointed to the fact that Securitize is a fully regulated digital securities firm:
“Five years from now, investors will expect that share ownership and activity is traded and publicly recorded on a blockchain instead of the slower and less efficient traditional processes. We’re excited Brett sees the future as we do and that he has agreed to join our leadership team.”
Just last month, Securitize announced the addition of a secondary trading platform as an approved ATS [alternative trading system]. Securitize Markets was built following Securitize’s November 2020 acquisition of Distributed Technology Markets.
This past June, Securitize raised $48 million in Series B funding co-led by Morgan Stanley and Blockchain Capital.
Redfearn said he believes that blockchain holds incredible promise in improving capital markets, including access to capital, while providing “nearly instantaneous clearing and settlement, transparent record-keeping, and entirely new kinds of products.”
“I have great respect for Securitize and its leadership because they have built a business that both realizes the benefits of blockchain technology and also understands and operates squarely within the existing regulatory framework and securities laws. I look forward to helping Securitize continue its leadership in the digitization and democratization of finance,” said Redfearn.
Securitize’s Advisory Board, listed below, includes many prominent names from both financial services and the regulatory world:
- Paul Atkins: Former SEC Commissioner, CEO of Patomak Global Partners
- Chris Conetta: Senior Managing Director, Head of Liquid Markets at Nearwater Capital, former Managing Director of Barclays and Lehman Brothers
- Dick Costolo: Managing Partner and co-founder of 01 Advisors, former CEO of Twitter, former Group Product Manager at Google
- Matthew Le Merle: Managing Partner of Fifth Era and Blockchain Coinvestors, Vice Chairman of SFOX, Chairman of Concept Art House
- Donna Redel: Professor of blockchain and digital assets at Fordham University Law School, former Chairwoman of COMEX, CIO of Prudential Securities, and Managing Director of the World Economic Forum
- Manolo Sanchez: Fannie Mae Board Member, as well as former CEO of BBVA Compass
- James Wallis: Founder, 7e4 LLC, former Vice President of Blockchain at IBM
