Nadine Chakar will join institutional tokenization startup Securrency as CEO on January 9. In late October it was announced that she would be leaving State Street, where she was the founding director of State Street Digital, the digital assets division launched in mid-2021.

Chakar was previously Head of Global Markets at State Street and prior to that, Global Head of Operations and Data at ManuLife. He spent more than eight years in senior positions at BNY Mellon.

He has expressed his opposition to restrictions on institutions that provide custody services for digital assets. That included the US SEC insisting that digital assets in custody appear on the balance sheet. The proposed Basel rules for banks were thought to require banks like State Street to set aside a dollar of capital for every dollar of digital assets in custody, which would not be feasible. However, the final Basel rules clarified that the dollar-for-dollar capital requirement will not apply to custody. The more accommodating rules were the result of industry feedback, including Chakar’s.

Safety

Securrency has an existing relationship with Chakar as State Street invested in Securrency’s $30 million Series B round in mid-2021 and she took a seat on the board.

The startup’s focus is on tokenization and securities. Its proprietary Compliance Aware Token Framework aims to ensure that tokens comply with various securities regulations in multiple jurisdictions. That’s on top of basic compliance like identity and authorization. Securrency’s tokenization solution supports public and private blockchains. Asset manager WisdomTree Investments is both a security investor and a client.

Securrency’s founding CEO, Dan Doney, will continue to serve as chief technology officer. Before starting Securrency, he was Director of Innovation at the Defense Intelligence Agency and spent much of his career in the military.

By bringing Chakar on a full-time basis, Securrency gains not only an experienced executive, but also one with strong global connections.

“The financial services industry is at a critical inflection point as it tokenizes real-world regulated assets and automates legacy financial processes using the power of blockchain technology,” Chakar said. “The Securrency team has done a remarkable job of developing the most robust technology on the market. As the new CEO, my priority is to accelerate the commercialization of what is, in essence, the foundation of digital asset intelligence and interoperability for major financial institutions and the global ecosystem. “

He continued: “Dan Doney is a true visionary and innovator in the industry, and I look forward to working closely with him and the team to create the global digital asset markets of the future.”