Niki Beattie

Chair

Niki is a strategic expert in financial market structure with more than 30 years of experience in capital markets. She is the founder of Market Structure Partners and has built an extensive portfolio of board leadership roles, previously serving as Chair of XTX Markets and Aquis Exchange, where she guided the company through its IPO. Niki spent 14 years at Merrill Lynch, rising to Managing Director and Head of Market Structure. Her governance experience also includes non-executive roles at Iress and Borsa İstanbul, alongside advisory work for the FCA and ESMA.

Benjamin Santos-Stephens

Board Member & CEO

Benjamin is an Executive Director on the Board and CEO. He is an entrepreneur and finance executive who previously served as a Non-Executive Director at Digital Asset Fintech Globacap and as a Managing Director at Laser Digital, Nomura’s Digital Asset trading business. He was also formerly the Global Head of Product Management at Instinet, where he was responsible for strategy and business development across digital assets, trading, post-trade, clearing, and analytics.

Henry Daubney

Non-Executive Director

Henry serves on the Group Board and the board of ClearToken Depository Limited, acting as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for both entities. Before retiring, Henry was a senior banking partner at PwC with over 35 years of experience in financial services, including serving as the lead relationship and engagement partner for Euroclear. In addition to his role at ClearToken, Henry is a Non-Executive Director of OSB plc, a UK Listed financial services company.

Nick Hutt

Non-Executive Director

Nick serves as a Non-Executive Director at ClearToken. He is a senior financial services executive with extensive experience in global investment banking leadership and governance. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of VTB Capital, where he led the firm’s international business, having originally joined the company as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to this, Nick was the Global Head of Emerging Markets Product Control at Deutsche Bank. He brings deep expertise in financial strategy, operational management, and capital markets.

Luuk Strijers

Non-Executive Director

Luuk serves as a Non-Executive Director at ClearToken and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Deribit, a leading cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. He joined Deribit in 2019, serving as Chief Commercial Officer before his appointment as CEO. Luuk brings nearly 20 years of experience in financial markets, having previously worked at the Singapore Exchange (SGX) where he was responsible for listed products including ETFs, equities, and derivatives. He holds a Master of Science in Finance from Maastricht University.

Niki Beattie

Chair

Niki is a strategic expert in financial market structure with more than 30 years of experience in capital markets. She is the founder of Market Structure Partners and has built an extensive portfolio of board leadership roles, previously serving as Chair of XTX Markets and Aquis Exchange, where she guided the company through its IPO. Niki spent 14 years at Merrill Lynch, rising to Managing Director and Head of Market Structure. Her governance experience also includes non-executive roles at Iress and Borsa İstanbul, alongside advisory work for the FCA and ESMA.

Benjamin Santos-Stephens

Board Member & CEO

Benjamin is an Executive Director on the Board and CEO. He is an entrepreneur and finance executive who previously served as a Non-Executive Director at Digital Asset Fintech Globacap and as a Managing Director at Laser Digital, Nomura’s Digital Asset trading business. He was also formerly the Global Head of Product Management at Instinet, where he was responsible for strategy and business development across digital assets, trading, post-trade, clearing, and analytics.

Henry Daubney

Non-Executive Director

Henry serves on the Group Board and the board of ClearToken Depository Limited, acting as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for both entities. Before retiring, Henry was a senior banking partner at PwC with over 35 years of experience in financial services, including serving as the lead relationship and engagement partner for Euroclear. In addition to his role at ClearToken, Henry is a Non-Executive Director of OSB plc, a UK Listed financial services company.

Niki Beattie

Chair

Niki is a strategic expert in financial market structure with more than 30 years of experience in capital markets. She is the founder of Market Structure Partners and has built an extensive portfolio of board leadership roles, previously serving as Chair of XTX Markets and Aquis Exchange, where she guided the company through its IPO. Niki spent 14 years at Merrill Lynch, rising to Managing Director and Head of Market Structure. Her governance experience also includes non-executive roles at Iress and Borsa İstanbul, alongside advisory work for the FCA and ESMA.

Benjamin Santos-Stephens

Board Member & CEO

Benjamin is an Executive Director on the Board and CEO. He is an entrepreneur and finance executive who previously served as a Non-Executive Director at Digital Asset Fintech Globacap and as a Managing Director at Laser Digital, Nomura’s Digital Asset trading business. He was also formerly the Global Head of Product Management at Instinet, where he was responsible for strategy and business development across digital assets, trading, post-trade, clearing, and analytics.

Henry Daubney

Non-Executive Director

Henry serves on the Group Board and the board of ClearToken Depository Limited, acting as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for both entities. Before retiring, Henry was a senior banking partner at PwC with over 35 years of experience in financial services, including serving as the lead relationship and engagement partner for Euroclear. In addition to his role at ClearToken, Henry is a Non-Executive Director of OSB plc, a UK Listed financial services company.

Claire Conby

Board Member & MLRO

Claire is an Executive Director on the Board of ClearToken Depository Limited, the entity that runs the company’s DVP settlement service, CT Settle. She brings over 20 years of experience in business, risk management, compliance, and MLRO roles. She was also an Executive Director at the Digital Pound Foundation and has worked with fintechs in payment services throughout her career, with a strong focus on digital assets and emerging forms of money.

Benjamin Santos-Stephens

CEO

Benjamin is an Executive Director on the Board and CEO. He is an entrepreneur and finance executive who previously served as a Non-Executive Director at Digital Asset Fintech Globacap and as a Managing Director at Laser Digital, Nomura’s Digital Asset trading business. He was also formerly the Global Head of Product Management at Instinet, where he was responsible for strategy and business development across digital assets, trading, post-trade, clearing, and analytics.

Eric Dorré

Co-Founder

Experienced GM with a track-record scaling globally regulated high-volume, high-uptime businesses. Eric led Virtu and DRW’s predecessors into Europe and APAC. His operational and business development work has led to several successful exits. Eric leads his own financial services consulting practice, serves as a non-exec to FinTechs in Europe.

Chris Smith

Chief Operating Officer

Former Head of Clearing Operations at ClearToken, Chris has spent over 25 years managing the full trade lifecycle across multiple asset classes. A payments specialist, he successfully implemented direct connections to SWIFT and led initiatives for ISO standards migration. His career includes senior operational roles at leading financial institutions such as TP ICAP and JP Morgan, and he most recently served as Interim Chief Operating Officer at LME Clear, the CCP of the London Metals Exchange.

Mark Williamson

Chief Commercial Officer

Mark brings over 35 years of experience across banking and finance, with a diverse background spanning trading, operations, and technology across global markets. Most recently, he served as Global Head of FX & Precious Metals, Digital Assets & Currencies at HSBC, where he assessed and implemented digital technologies to optimise financial outcomes. An innovative, execution-driven pioneer, he has led successful transformation programmes and pioneered ground-breaking digital infrastructure projects. His experience also includes Global COO roles at HSBC and BNP Paribas, and senior positions at J.P. Morgan.

Kristi Tange

Group Chief Risk Officer

As Group Chief Risk Officer, Kristi leads governance, risk, and strategic oversight, including compliance, communications, and regulatory relations. She brings nearly three decades of experience at Goldman Sachs across operations, risk, and finance in the US, UK, and Japan.

Most recently, Kristi served as Global Head of Operational Risk and Resilience at Goldman Sachs, where she led a strategic uplift of operational risk and UK resilience programmes. Previously, she headed Recovery and Resolution Planning, successfully filing two US Title I resolution plans. Her experience also includes enterprise risk, where she led risk identification, and senior leadership roles in operations across liquidity and collateral, client onboarding (including financial crimes), client assets, data, regulatory reporting, tax, derivatives, and treasury.

Steve Briscoe

Chief Information Officer

Technology and Operations specialist with over 25 years of experience building, deploying and operating software in banks and market infrastructure in London, Tokyo, New York and Sydney. Delivered large scale system replacements and digitisation projects to enable business growth. Previously a Managing Director at UBS and RBS, Group CIO of the London Clearing House and an Executive General Manager at CBA.

Robert Karlsson

Chief Technology Officer

Robert is the Chief Technology officer of ClearToken with over 25 years of experience in technical roles within finance. He was previously the Head of Technology at Laser Digital, Nomura’s Digital Asset business. Other roles spanned Credit Suisse, Barclays and Instinet. Robert also brings experience as a CTO at a proprietary trading firm, where he grew the technology stack from inception to support a leading futures market maker. He possesses deep expertise in crypto trading, distributed cloud systems, information security, market data, and high-volume systems.

Clare Weaver

Chief Legal Officer

Clare leads the Legal and Regulatory function at ClearToken, having served as counsel and Company Secretary since its inception in 2023. With over 20 years of experience across corporate, commercial, and regulatory sectors, she provides strategic advisory support to the Group. Previously, Clare established the legal function for Nomura’s Digital Office and was the founding interim Chief Legal Officer of Laser Digital. Her deep expertise spans fintech, regulatory change, and complex strategic reorganisations.

Claire Conby

Board Member & MLRO

Claire is an Executive Director on the Board of ClearToken Depository Limited, the entity that runs the company’s DVP settlement service, CT Settle. She brings over 20 years of experience in business, risk management, compliance, and MLRO roles. She was also an Executive Director at the Digital Pound Foundation and has worked with fintechs in payment services throughout her career, with a strong focus on digital assets and emerging forms of money.

John Bratowicz

Head of Compliance

John is the former head of compliance and Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) at the digital asset custodial technology provider, Copper. With more than 10 years of experience in compliance, he previously spent five years at CLS, a systemically important global foreign exchange clearing bank, as an advisory and core compliance and risk officer.

Akash Sharma

Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs

Akash came to ClearToken from the Bank of England, where he jointly led the Post-Trade Innovation team creating the Digital Securities Sandbox. Prior to the Bank of England, Akash worked at HM Treasury in a series of high-profile policy roles covering financial sanctions, post-Brexit trade policy, and the Covid-19 response. He holds a Masters in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and has completed the Chartered Blockchain Analyst I qualification.

Nick Hallett

Risk Officer

A former Barclays Managing Director, Nick has extensive knowledge of clearing default and risk management, having been a member of Default Management Groups and the Risk Committee for the London Clearing House. His background covers 25 years of experience in derivatives risk and market making, combined with liquidity and capital optimisation.

Malcolm Rarity

Operations Manager

Malcolm has more than 30 years of experience in financial markets. He began as an FX trader at top-tier US banks before becoming an early pioneer of electronic FX at ING Group and Bank of America. His career evolved to include global financial markets programme management roles at Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered Bank. He transitioned into digital assets at Standard Chartered and continues to remain at the forefront of financial market evolution.

Oliver Margolis

Head of Product

Oliver has a background in delivering solutions at the nexus of traditional finance and digital assets. He previously served as Head of Product and Head of Partnerships at Elwood, Head of Product at the Workshop, and was one of the first members of J.P. Morgan’s Blockchain Centre of Excellence.

Peter Best

Partner Manager

Peter has spent most of his career at the inter-dealer broker ICAP, advancing through roles including Swaps Broker, Product Manager, Business Manager, Head of Market Development, COO, and Head of Strategy. He also spent three years as Head of FICC Product Development at NYSE Liffe and more recently ran a startup dedicated to facilitating institutional access to restricted currencies.