R3 Appoints Ex-Merrill Lynch Chairman to Accelerate Blockchain Adoption

The enterprise blockchain company R3 has appointed Bob Wigley, the former Chairman of Merrill Lynch EMEA, to its Board of Directors. Wigley joins after serving as the Chairman of UK Finance for the past six years where he led a digital tokenization task force.

R3 Appoints Former Merrill Lynch EMEA Chairman to Board of Directors

In his new role, Wigley will guide R3's digital finance strategy and drive adoption of the company's newly launched R3 Digital Markets product suite. The suite aims to help financial institutions adopt digital assets and currencies. Wigley brings expertise from past board positions at organizations like the Bank of England, Euroclear, Bink and LCH.Clearnet. He also holds academic positions related to alternative finance.

"Wigley insight and strong industry connections will be an invaluable addition to our board, at a time when R3 is working with financial institutions and FMIs to digitise global markets," said David E. Rutter, the CEO of R3, welcoming the appointment.

The move comes as R3 looks to expand its enterprise blockchain solutions for regulated markets like central bank digital currencies and security tokenization. Wigley's experience in market infrastructure is seen as beneficial for the company's growth plans.

“R3 is the catalyst behind pioneering CBDC and other real financial asset tokenization projects, and I look forward to working with the team and its customers to continue driving adoption in new geographies and asset classes,” stated Wigley.

For R3, this is another appointment within the last month. In late January, the company hired Kate Karimson as the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). She brings experience across capital markets, having previously held leadership roles at CME Group, BrokerTec, ICAP and LedgerEdge.

R3 Builds DLT Suite

In addition to announcing the new CCO, R3 launched a new suite of digital solutions to help financial companies better adapt to the world of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The new introduced R3 Digital Markets suite leverages the Corda platform by R3 to support the incorporation of digital assets and currencies into the operations of capital markets. It provides a range of solutions for managing digital currencies, tokenizing assets, ensuring interoperability with existing systems, and fostering cooperative development environments.

"We're designing long-term solutions for a seamlessly connected financial world," Rutter commented. "Corda built the foundation for this, as the only production-ready enterprise DLT solution built for regulated markets."

In the previous year, R3 entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, aiming to boost the growth of Qatar's fintech sector.