London Stock Exchange-Backed Nivaura Hires Senior HSBC Banker

Nivaura, a London-based regulated fintech startup backed by the London Stock Exchange Group, has hired senior banker Chris Jones from HSBC, the company said.

The company helps users process capital market legal documents. The marquis hire will advise on product features and leverage city relationships to mainstream use of Nivaura’s blockchain-based system.

In February, Nivaura raised a $20 million strategic investment round led by the London Stock Exchange Group. Other investors in the funding round included Allen & Overy, Linklaters, Orrick, Santander InnoVentures, Aegon Asset Management, Middlegame Ventures and Digital Currency Group.

Before joining the startup, Jones worked for HSBC based in London for 15 years, as global head of local currency syndicate for eight years and global head of MTNs and structured notes for seven years.

He also worked in a similar role at Deutsche Bank prior to HSBC, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In the statement, Jones said Nivaura’s progress is partly due to “collaborating with the market incumbents” and hopes his “experience and relationships will help enhance those efforts.”

Jones said:

“There is a significant opportunity to help the capital markets become more digital.”

Nivaura CEO Avtar Sehra added:

“Chris has a deep understanding of capital markets execution, and in recent years has also been involved in a number of proprietary and third-party capital markets technology initiatives.”

Nivaura’s flagship platform, Aurora, uses the blockchain to help banks, issuers and law firms create and execute legal documents relating to new issues and disseminate data to agents, securities depositories and custodians.

Their system can be built on any blockchain, but their most recent transaction – for Santander – was done on ethereum.

Founded in 2016, Nivaura said it participated in all five regulatory sandboxes from the U.K. regulator Financial Conduct Authority, gaining the latest legal approvals.

Handshake miniature via Shutterstock