Digital asset custodian Hex Trust has named former vice chairman of securities services at Standard Chartered Bank as chairman of its advisory board.
Originally appointed to the advisory board in July 2020, Colin Brooks will take on this new role, bringing over 30 years’ experience from within the securities industry.
Brooks joined the industry in the mid-1980s as a project manager with the London Stock Exchange, during and after the ‘Big Bang’ period. He then moved to Hong Kong in 1990 and was part of a small team which established HSBC Securities Services, taking on various regional and global roles as the business expanded in scope and geographically.
Brook’s final role at HSBC was global head of custody and clearing, heading up a global business that covered over 50 markets across six continents. He served the role for seven years and during that period, transformed HSBC’s custody business from a small team to the largest sub-custodian in Asia.
After leaving HSBC, Brooks moved to Standard Chartered in 2015, first as senior advisor to the securities business and most recently as vice chairman, securities services based in Singapore. Brooks retired from Standard Chartered last year after successfully completing the re-launch of the bank’s securities business.
In March 2019, Brooks was inducted into the Global Custodian Hall of Fame as an industry legend; an award which recognises individuals from across securities services for their key industry contributions.
“Colin has been instrumental for the development of our institutional custody offering. We are now at an inflexion point where every major financial institution is in the process of defining or implementing its digital asset strategy. Colin’s contribution going forward will be critical to position Hex Trust as the Asia-based leader in the space,” said Alessio Quaglini, CEO of Hex Trust.
Hex Trust said it plans to continue scaling its banking and financial institutional client base across Asia and Europe. Brook’s experience will help expand and drive Hex Trust towards providing the industry’s leading platform for bank-grade digital asset custody.
“Having been involved for almost 12 months in the evolution of Hex Trust, I have been hugely impressed by the team and their achievements and am delighted to take on a broader role. I look forward to contributing to Hex Trust’s continued development as Asia’s leading digital custodian as digital assets move rapidly into the mainstream,” said Brooks.