Former Standard Chartered Singapore CEO joins fintech startup Hashstacs

Ray Ferguson, the former CEO of Standard Chartered Singapore, has joined fintech startup Hashstacs (Stacs) as its chairman.

Ray Ferguson, the new chairman of Hashstacs/ Photo credit: Hashstacs

Stacs provides financial services to capital markets with a focus on trade lifecycle management of bonds, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) fintech, structured products, and exchange-traded derivatives.

In his new role, Ferguson will develop Stacs’ business strategy and strengthen the company’s standards of governance. He will also lead the company in raising funds later this year, onboarding more investors, and partnering with ESG and green fintech firms.

“I look forward to our team gaining immensely from his (Ferguson’s) 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,” said Benjamin Soh, the startup’s co-founder.

Ferguson also spearheads Aviva Singlife Holdings as the company’s chairman since April 2017. He is the founder as well of 1SignHash, a Singapore-based regulation technology company that provides cross-border legal and bank-grade document signing and storage services.

In addition, the former StanChart CEO is also a board mentor for Criticaleye, a peer-to-peer community for CEOs.

Stacs will focus on its GreenStacs technology in 2021, allowing 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).

See also: The key players in Singapore’s thriving fintech space

In December 2020, the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange partnered with Stacs to conclude a trial on using blockchain to facilitate the growth of the bond marketplace. Deutsche Bank has also teamed up with the fintech company this month.