Leading UK-based property Fintech LendInvest has hired Greg Medcraft, former Head of Australia’s regulator, as Senior Advisor.
Medcraft Commissioner and then Chairman of Australia’s financial services regulator, ASIC was from 2009 to 2017. Until last year, he was Director of the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs of the OECD working on policy including blockchain technology. Medcraft currently serves as a director of the Washington-based think tank Salzburg Global Seminar and a global steward of the World Economic Forum’s initiative on long-term investing infrastructure. He also previously served as a member of the IMF High-Level Advisory Group of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Finance and Technology and a member of the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Prior to his policy and regulatory work, Medcraft had a career in financial services including 26 years with Société Générale, where he was the bank’s Global Head of Securitisation.
LendInvest states that Medcraft will be providing the group with insight and advice regarding the role of tech in financial services.
Christian Faes, LendInvest Executive Chair, described Medcraft as a rare breed in that he has had significant experience in financial markets globally, experience as a senior regulator, and also an interest in the adoption and impact of emerging technologies such as blockchain.
“This unique skill-set is particularly relevant to LendInvest and the business that we’re building. We have the most diverse funding base of any lender in the market, and the proprietary technology we have built over the last decade has given us a real competitive advantage, making property finance simple for our borrowers and investors. Greg’s input will be invaluable as we seek to ensure that LendInvest remains at the forefront of innovation and the application of technology in property finance and capital markets.”
Medcraft said that in getting to know the team at LendInvest, he has been hugely impressed with the customer-focused, digital business that they have built.
“Technology has fundamentally changed financial services, yet we are still in the early phase of this evolution. Technology in financial services is about removing friction, and innovations like blockchain have the potential to have an enormous impact on how capital markets and real estate finance function in future.”