US digital asset business Securitize has appointed Jerome Roche as general counsel, filling the seat left vacant by Tom Eidt earlier this year.
Roche joins from payments giant PayPal, where he was head of legal for digital assets, helping lead the company’s expansion into digital assets and supporting initiatives such as its PayPal USD stablecoin. He brings more than 20 years of legal experience across fintech and banking, with expertise in securities trading, stablecoin development and crypto regulation strategy.
The company said Roche’s hiring represents a meaningful step for Securitize as it seeks to scale regulated tokenisation infrastructure across the US and Europe. Securitize provides tokenisation services for funds and has $4bn of assets under management.
Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, said: “As we are preparing to be a publicly traded company, Jerome brings the kind of leadership, expertise and work ethic that signals where Securitize is headed. He has advised some of the world’s most respected financial institutions, helped guide one of the largest fintech companies through the launch of a major stablecoin, and has spent his career operating at the intersection of securities law, market infrastructure and digital innovation.”
Roche arrives after just over three and a half years at PayPal, having previously been a partner at Linklaters in its Washington DC office. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade as a partner at Mayer Brown, following a year working in-house as associate GC at retirement and wealth management business TIAA.
His first role in private practice was at WilmerHale, having started his legal career as an attorney adviser at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Roche said: “This is one of the most consequential moments in the evolution of financial markets. For the first time, modern ledger technology is giving us the ability to record ownership, settle transactions and move value in ways that are fundamentally better than the fragmented systems we’ve inherited.
“Innovation only works when it fits squarely within the guardrails of applicable law. That intersection, where responsible technology meets prudent regulation, is exactly where I’ve spent my career, and exactly where Securitize has been leading.”
Eidt, meanwhile, left Securitize in May after four years. He is now GC at alternative investment business Alto.
In other recent fintech moves, earlier this month UK fintech ClearBank hired former Financial Conduct Authority adviser Angela Roberts as its group GC, while in July US blockchain tech company Marinade Labs hired Zalika Headley from digital asset lender BlockFi as its first GC.
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