OSL Announces Six Senior Hires for Software-As-A-Software, Business Development, Operations and Technology

Hong Kong, 17 June, 2021 – OSL, the world’s first and only Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)-licensed, Big-Four-audited, insured digital asset platform and member of BC Technology Group (stock code: 863 HK), today announced six key senior hires across the firm, including in software-as-a-service (SaaS), business development, operations and technology.

“Over the past six months, we’ve grown our business, expanded our product offering and are serving more and more institutional clients around the world,” said OSL CEO Wayne Trench. “We’re excited to support this growth by bringing on board several highly qualified professionals in the key markets of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.”

The senior appointments bring a combined over 100 years of experience in their respective areas of expertise to the OSL team. 

The senior hires are:

_Colm Furlong, Head of SaaS_Furlong joins OSL from trading technology firm Fidessa, where he held a number of senior positions over a 13-year tenure, including serving as Head of Product Marketing and Strategy Asia and Head of Global Program Trading Strategy. Prior to Fidessa, Furlong was Head of Equities Business Solutions at SunGard (now part of FIS).

Joe Zhou, Director, Business Development Zhou joins from Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEX) where he served as Senior Vice President of Global Client Development, with a focus on brokers, asset managers, asset owners and issuers. Over his more than 17-year career, Zhou has also held positions at CSOP Asset Management, the Securities and Futures Commission, BlackRock and Merrill Lynch. 

_Arion Ho, Head of Exchange Operations, UK_Arion Ho has over 18 years of experience primarily focused in trading and exchange operations. Before joining OSL, he was a Senior Vice President at HKEX, where he led nighttime exchange operations, including trading risk, settlement, market surveillance and other activities. He also held senior roles at UBS China’s investment bank, where he led Shanghai and Wuxi operations, and at Standard Chartered, where he served as Head of Fixed Income Operations in Hong Kong.

_James Cunningham, Principal Engineer, UK_Cunningham joins OSL from Coinflex, where he served as the firm’s COO and CTO. Prior to Coinflex, Cunningham also held senior roles at Coinfloor, IV Capital, UBS Investment Bank, and MUFG. He has more than 20 years of experience in digital assets, hedge funds, and investment banking, specialising in high-frequency equity trading and derivatives.

_George Carr, Director, Infrastructure and Operations, UK_Carr joins OSL from AiX where he designed and managed the company’s trading platform and cloud infrastructure. With a background in Unix engineering, George has over 20 years of experience across financial services, including roles at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Bloomberg.

_Fergus MacDermot, Director, Service Reliability_Fergus MacDermot joins OSL from Standard Chartered’s digital bank, Mox Bank, where he served as Head of Platform Foundation and led developer operations. Prior to Mox, he held technical roles at HSBC, Monitise and at the Energy Saving Trust during his over 15-year career. 

“These individuals have deep experience in financial services, leading exchanges and digital assets, and will help our company grow to meet dynamic market demand,” added BC Group COO Phillip Pon. “With their diverse backgrounds, this global and institutional-focused group brings unique perspective and experience to OSL as we continue to gain market share and scale our offering.”

The senior hires are part of BC Group and OSL’s ongoing global growth and strategic expansion. On 2 June, BC Group and Standard Chartered announced a partnership to launch a digital asset brokerage and exchange joint-venture with an initial focus on the European and UK markets.