Archax Launches Subsidiary Montis Digital, Appoints Martin Watkins as CEO

Archax, the U.K. digital securities exchange, broker and custodian, has named Martin Watkins as CEO of its new subsidiary Montis Digital.

• Watkins is an industry veteran, having formerly worked at EY, Atos Euronext and Euroclear. Montis Digital is building “digitally native, blockchain-based post-trade infrastructure to allow tokenized assets, such as securities or security tokens, to realize their full potential,” the company said in a statement.
• Watkins said in the statement that he was excited to be part of Montis Digital and to be ‘‘working at the forefront of building the next generation of infrastructure for capital markets blockchain technology.’’

Read more: UK Regulator Grants License to Digital Security Exchange Archax

• Archax was granted several licenses by the U.K. regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in August 2020, making it one of the world’s first authorized trading spaces for digital securities.
• It was the first crypto-asset firm to be registered with the FCA, a must for all companies working with digital assets from January 2021.
• Graham Rodford, CEO of the Archax Group, said that “the potential benefits of using blockchain technology in financial markets are particularly relevant in the post-trade space,’’ adding that “blockchain based post-trade infrastructure can reduce settlement times, remove friction, improve efficiency and lower costs – and our subsidiary Montis Digital is building out the technology that is required for this.’’