Dr Kay Swinburne, vice chair of financial services at KPMG UK and former vice chair of the European Parliament’s Economics and Monetary Affairs Committee, has been named chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG). The role was previously held by former city minister Mark Hoban.

The IRSG is focused on promoting regulation that encourages open and competitive global markets. Recent priorities have included the UK’s regulatory framework post-Brexit, ESG and a green finance taxonomy, and priorities for the G7 to be held in the UK this summer. The group is co-sponsored by TheCityUK and the City of London Corporation, and comprises senior practitioners from across the financial and related professional services industry.

Swinburne says: “I am very pleased to be taking up this role at such a crucial time for the UK as an international financial centre. With the global challenge to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, the UK setting out its post-Brexit regulatory framework, and regulators seeking to get to grips with climate change and technological transformation, there is a plenty for us to do. Working with members of the IRSG, I am keen to set a policy agenda that enables the financial and related professional services industry to flourish while serving and supporting the wider economy.”

Both the City of London Corporation and TheCityUK welcomed Swinburne’s appointment, noting her extensive knowledge of the financial services industry and international regulation, as well as her proven track record in regulatory change. Swinburne played a pivotal role in shaping EU and global financial services legislation in her role as an MEP, including setting up EU supervisory bodies and the Capital Markets Union.

Appway, a specialist in technology for workflow automation in financial services, has appointed Léo Apotheker as the first independent member of its board of directors. Apotheker was formerly CEO of German software giant SAP, and is also former CEO and President of Hewlett-Packard. He currently sits on the boards of a number of other leading technology companies, including Schneider Electric, NICE, and Syncron. In June 2020, Appway announced its first external capital raise since its founding in 2003: a $37 million minority investment from global growth equity firm Summit Partners, to support its next phase of growth.

Kavitha Venkita has been appointed to lead ACA Aponix, the dedicated global cybersecurity and technology risk advisory team at ACA Compliance Group. Kavitha will oversee all aspects of the business, including cybersecurity advisory, cyber and technology risk diligence for financial sponsors and corporates, and vendor management. She has over 20 years of experience in launching, managing, and growing technology and information services businesses globally, and previously held roles in strategy consulting and at Gartner/CEB, where she built and led the global IT and Government practices.

RIMES has appointed former Nasdaq CIO, Anna Ewing, to its board of directors as a non-executive director. Ewing will bring her expertise in Financial Services technology solutions to help RIMES further expand its Managed Data Services and build out its product roadmap for its proprietary and scalable technology and platform.During her career, Anna has established multiple industry-leading business units at Nasdaq, CIBC and Merrill Lynch. As well as RIMES, Anna is currently a board member of Financeware LLC and Orchid Insurance. Anna was previously a Non-Executive Director with NEX Group plc.

UK-based anti-money laundering (AML) firm SmartSearch has bolstered its global growth ambitions with the appointment of international development director Martin Tuvey to oversee its expansion into US and European markets. The role was created as part of the firm’s global business growth strategy. Tuvey brings with him insight into the US market having previously developed tech businesses in America, and he will be responsible for the ongoing development of SmartSearch in the US, as well as overseeing SmartSearch’s expansion into other international markets.

SmartSearch entered the US market in July 2020 and opened an office in Utah in October.

Australian RegTech firm Arctic Intelligence has promoted its longstanding COO, Darren Cade, to CEO; taking over from Artic Founder Anthony Quinn. Cade has an extensive risk management background including over 20 years in risk and operational leadership roles at Macquarie Bank, Deloitte and EY. He will focus on driving growth in key markets and industry sectors to continue to scale up the business, while Quinn will support him as a Board Member.

Gresham Technologies Plc (Gresham) has appointed Joel Jerome as Director of Sales, APAC to grow the firm’s regional footprint. Globally, heightened market volatility, digital transformation and increased regulatory scrutiny are demanding better reconciliation and reporting of all data types. Jerome’s appointment in Singapore is an extension of Gresham’s commitment to meeting these challenges for existing and future customers across the APAC region. He will be responsible for driving Gresham’s commercial strategy and enabling legacy technology replacement and data migration projects.

Gresham Technologies has appointed Jenny Knott and Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer as Non-Executive Directors. The appointments follow the recent news of a Clareti Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR) increase of 18% to £10.7 million and a significant new Tier 1 bank win during H1 2020.

Knott is the co-founder of FinTech Strategic Advisors, and has previously held C-suite roles in investment banking. Dr Wandhöfer’s experience includes spearheading regulatory and market strategy for Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi, advising the European Banking Federation on Securities Services and Payments, and serving as a NED of the London Stock Exchange.

Gresham Technologies plc (Gresham), has appointed Vincent Him as Sales Director, Europe to grow the firm’s global footprint. Previously holding Senior Sales positions at SmartStream and Duco, Him brings almost 25 years’ experience across the post-trade reconciliations industry to the role. He will be responsible for driving growth across Europe, and for growing existing customer partnerships and winning new transformation opportunities among banks, asset managers and capital markets firms across the entire Clareti suite of products and services.

Aligned with Gresham’s global growth plans, this senior hire is the latest move from the firm following its acquisition of Inforalgo, a Gresham Technologies company, in July 2020 to expand its end-to-end regulatory reporting capabilities.

ACA Compliance Group (ACA), a provider of governance, risk, and compliance advisory services and technology solutions, has appointed Ron Weekes as CEO of Mirabella, the firm’s regulatory hosting platform. He replaces Mirabella founder and CEO Joe Vittoria, who will assist in the transition over the coming months. Weekes has been a Partner and the European CEO for ACA Compliance Group since 2010. He established and built out the UK compliance division and more recently oversaw ACA’s local regulatory hosting, cyber, and GIPS compliance performance solutions. This was preceded by a nine-year term as the founder and CEO of a UK compliance consulting firm that specialised in the alternatives fund management and advisory sectors.

ACA Partner Adam Palmer will now assume responsibility for ACA’s UK regulatory division, based in London. Mike Downie has also joined Mirabella, moving from his European Operations Officer role at ACA Compliance Group.