OSL Hires Merrill Lynch and RBS Vet Jeff Howard as Head of North America Business Development and Institutional Sales, Secures FinCen MSB Registration

Chicago, Illinois – December 1, 2021 – OSL, a member of BC Technology Group (stock code:863 HK), and a leader in digital asset trading and software-as-a-service (SaaS), today announced it has appointed Jeffrey Howard, a 25-year prime brokerage and listed derivatives veteran, as Head of North America Business Development and Institutional Sales. In conjunction with the hire, OSL has acquired a Money Services Business (MSB) registration from the United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jeff to the OSL family as we expand in the United States and Canada,” said OSL Head of Americas Fernando Martinez. “His experience working with institutional clients in regulated markets will be a tremendous asset as we continue our rapid growth trajectory in the region.”

Howard previously was Managing Director and Global Head of Prime Services at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), where he oversaw the bank’s listed derivatives, OTC swap clearing, FX prime brokerage, and interest rate prime brokerage businesses. While at RBS, he served as a board member of the Futures Industry Association (FIA) in the United States, and the Futures & Options Association (FOA) in Europe. 

Howard also worked at Merrill Lynch for over 15 years, where he held a number of senior roles including Managing Director and head of the bank’s Americas Futures and Options business, which included the CFTC-regulated Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) unit. Most recently, Howard was the Managing Partner and Founder of Salveo Capital, a Chicago-based institutional venture capital firm focused on the regulated cannabis industry.

“Coming from a long career in traditional regulated financial markets, OSL clearly stood out to me as a forward-thinking global leader in digital asset prime brokerage, custody and exchange SaaS,” said Howard. “It’s commitment to regulatory compliance and security is a key differentiator and an important element of its success to date. I’m truly excited to be joining the firm and look forward to driving its winning strategy across North America.”

The US Treasury Department’s MSB registration is required to offer a secure, compliant digital asset business to clients in the United States. From inception, OSL was built with institutional and professional investors in mind, and provides best-in-class KYC, AML, and market surveillance standards and practices across its global businesses. 

In July, OSL launched its market-leading prime brokerage in the Americas, including electronic and OTC execution, coin borrowing and lending, capital introduction and access into deep pools of digital asset liquidity. Since July, prime brokerage client trading volume in North America has increased to represent more than 40% of OSL Americas’ overall volume.