Former Standard Chartered Singapore CEO Ray Ferguson Joins Homegrown Fintech STACS as Chairman

Appointment comes in a period of strong growth for startup, with recent partners including Deutsche Bank, Bursa Malaysia, and PwC Singapore

SINGAPORE, 27 January 2021 — Ray Ferguson, the former CEO of Standard Chartered Singapore, has joined homegrown fintech start-up Hashstacs Pte Ltd (STACS), a leading Singapore-headquartered fintech development company providing transformative technology to the financial services sector, as Chairman. STACS is focused on capital markets use cases such as the trade lifecycle management of bonds, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) fintech, structured products, and exchange-traded derivatives, empowering financial institutions to unlock massive value presently locked up in inefficient systems and processes.

In his new role, Ray 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. As a fast-growing technology company, key upcoming plans for STACS under Ray’s leadership will include embarking on a fund raise later this year to scale the business, onboarding more strategic investors, and furthering its ecosystem expansion with more industry partners, especially in connection with the theme of ESG and green fintech. In line with the international push to address climate change, and the Singapore ministry placing sustainability at its core as highlighted recently by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, a key focus for STACS in 2021 is their GreenSTACS technology. This allows financial institutions to employ effective ESG financing with smart contracts, manage usage of proceeds effectively, and have transparent real-time tracking and impact reporting of green assets on the distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Benjamin Soh, Co-founder & Managing Director at STACS, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ray to the STACS team as Chairman. The market opportunity that lies before us is colossal, global, and with big sophisticated financial institutions that only accept the very best when it comes to technology and standards. The advantage we have is that our technology platforms are live, institutional, and already proven in the marketplace with various award wins, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Global FinTech Innovation Challenge Awards 2020. 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.”

Ray Ferguson, Chairman of STACS, said: “It’s an honour to join STACS as Chairman. 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 it’s DLT backbone, leveraging the proven strength of governance and infrastructure here in Singapore. Finally, we need customers and partners that are global in order to become a global institution ourselves, and this is where I will focus my energies — identifying propositions that allow us to work with the biggest banks and institutions in the world.”

In addition to his new role at STACS, Ray also holds other roles including as Chairman of Singapore-based technology insurance platform Aviva Singlife Holdings. In December, Malaysia’s national stock exchange Bursa Malaysia partnered with STACS to conclude a trial using the blockchain to facilitate the growth of the bond marketplace via its Labuan Financial Exchange. More recently 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 will bring about synergies between the two firms, while helping to elevate trust placed in DLT by the financial services industry and driving adoption. STACS expects to continue announcing new industry partnerships with leading financial institutions in 2021 as it seeks to transform global capital markets.

About STACS

STACS (Hashstacs Pte Ltd) is a Singapore FinTech development company with a Vision to provide Transformative Technology for the Financial Industry, with its complete infrastructure of ready platforms that make global markets simpler. STACS is leading the way forward by digitalizing assets, processes, and documents using its proprietary STACS Blockchain technology. Its clients and partners include global investment banks, national stock exchanges, custodian banks, asset managers, and private banks. STACS is an Award Winner of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Global FinTech Innovation Challenge Awards 2020, a technology partner of Project Ubin led by MAS, and also a two-times awardee of the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) Proof of Concept (POC) grant, under the Financial Sector Development Fund administered by MAS. STACS remains committed to its Mission to empower financial institutions to discover new opportunities through its technology.

For more information, please contact: