Elwood Technologies LLP, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that provides institutional-grade access to digital asset exchanges and liquidity venues, announced it has been authorized as a service company by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
This authorization applies to Elwood’s execution management system (EMS) in “relation to security tokens and derivatives.”
The company’s EMS platform allows clients “to connect to global crypto exchanges and OTC venues, through a single application or API, to trade digital assets.”
Chris Lawn, CEO, Elwood, said:
“Elwood is proud to become one of the first digital asset technology firms authorised as a service company by the FCA. Institutional investors are increasingly looking for a digital asset SaaS platform that meets robust regulatory standards akin to those in traditional finance. Securing FCA approval supports this need and marks another step in Elwood’s mission to provide an end-to-end digital asset platform in a regulated and transparent manner from the UK, one of the world’s leading financial services jurisdictions.”
Elwood’s SaaS platform – which includes risk representation and analytics tools (“PMS”) in addition to the EMS – has already “received SOC2 and ISO 27001 information security certifications.”
The company is backed by global financial firms, “including Dawn Capital and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), alongside Barclays (LON: BARC), Chimera Capital, Citi (NYSE: C), CommerzVentures, DCG, Flow Traders (Euronext: FLOW), Galaxy Digital, HashKey and Two Sigma.”
Josh Bell, Elwood Board member and General Partner at Dawn Capital, said:
“This is a pivotal moment for Elwood on its ambitious growth journey. The FCA only authorises fintechs that meet incredibly stringent regulatory standards. Achieving this status is further proof of Elwood’s market-leading position, and will help the company deliver for major institutional investors in the long term. A rapidly growing number of institutions today want what Elwood offers: a fully regulated, compliant platform that can aggregate prices, route orders, and provide broad access to liquidity. What a great start to 2024, and congratulations to the entire team.”
Mathew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, said:
“Today’s announcement shows Elwood’s progress in meeting the consistently increasing need for institutional grade, regulatory compliant digital asset infrastructure. We are excited to be a key stakeholder of Elwood Technologies and encouraged by the strides taken in the UK to bring digital asset companies in line with the strong regulatory expectations of the traditional finance world.”