London, 13.10.2024 – Fnality International has announced the appointment of Michelle Neal as its new CEO. Michelle will be responsible for driving the continued expansion of Fnality’s regulated network of distributed Financial Market Infrastructures (dFMIs), building on the December 2023 launch of the Sterling Fnality Payment System (£FnPS) – the world’s first regulated DLT-based wholesale payment system.  

Michelle succeeds Rhomaios Ram, who has served as Fnality International CEO since May 2019. Rhom will continue in an advisory capacity to Fnality International, offering continued support on product strategy, customer acquisition, and regulatory engagement. 

Michelle brings to Fnality extensive leadership experience in banking and markets. She has been at the vanguard of financial industry transformation and innovation for over 20 years, having held executive and senior positions at large financial institutions in Europe and the US including BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank and Nomura, giving her an unparalleled understanding of Fnality’s operating environment, regulatory domain, and global opportunities. Michelle comes to Fnality from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where she was Head of the Markets Group and a member of the Bank’s Executive Committee. 

 

David Eisner, Chair of the Board said: “We express sincere thanks to Rhom for his outstanding leadership since the inception of Fnality. We are thrilled to welcome Michelle to the company at a tremendously exciting time, as Fnality prepares for geographical expansion and accelerating adoption of the digital financial ecosystem that the Sterling Fnality Payment System is already uniquely driving. Her experience as a leader in our industry speaks for itself, and our Board is convinced that she will be a driver of enormous momentum and growth at Fnality.”  

Michelle Neal said: “I am excited to take on this role at Fnality International. Under Rhom’s leadership, Fnality has successfully demonstrated its transformative potential, bringing live the world’s first regulated DLT-based payment system and building the momentum for generational evolution in wholesale financial markets. I look forward to joining Fnality next year and guiding the team as it enters a new era of milestones.” 

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Media contact

The PHA Group – fnality@thephagroup.com

About Fnality

Fnality is developing a series of regulated DLT-based wholesale payment systems. Each system, known as a Fnality Payment System (FnPS), is supervised by its respective central bank.

Within a FnPS, participants utilise bankruptcy remote settlement balances backed 1-to-1 by central bank money for real-time wholesale payments. The launch of FnPSs in key jurisdictions will enable real-time cross-currency payments, and the secure atomic settlement of any delivery versus payment transactions around the clock. The credit quality of the central bank funds underpinning Fnality Payment Systems provides the missing ingredient for novel digital asset markets: institutional-grade digital cash.

In December 2023, the Sterling FnPS, previously recognised by HM Treasury as a systemically important payment system, commenced controlled live payments. Joining a handful of other regulated payment systems in the UK, it became the world’s first regulated DLT-based wholesale payment system, settling in digital central bank funds.

Fnality’s shareholders comprise: Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Barclays, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Commerzbank, DTCC, Euroclear, Goldman Sachs, ING, KBC Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Mizuho Financial Group, MUFG Bank, Nasdaq Ventures, Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, State Street Corporation, UBS and WisdomTree.

For more information, please visit fnality.com