GANT, the Gibraltar Association for New Technologies, announced the make up of its executive committee last week, with David Parody elected as Chairman.
Joey Garcia will be GANT’s Vice Chairman. Joey is recognised by Chambers & Partners as one of the world’s top 12 lawyers in the DLT space in 2018, and is currently ranked as a Bank 1 Fintech lawyer in Gibraltar. He co-chaired the Gibraltar Government’s working group on blockchain for 3 years, making a significant contribution to the development of the infrastructure for the establishment of Gibraltar’s DLT regulatory framework. His membership of international organisations in this field includes his being a founder member of thinkBlocktank established in Luxembourg, a member of the Stablecoin Foundation and working group, a member of the Digital Chamber of Commerce in Washington and a member of Wharton Reg@Tech think tank in Philadelphia. Joey is also the appointed lecturer at the Gibraltar University on DLT regulation for law students.
Javi Triay was elected to be the organisation’s Secretary. He forms part of the Triay & Triay Financial Services / Fintech Team, instrumental in developing the firm’s fintech practice. He has been involved in numerous ICOs, applications to the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, cryptofunds and STOs, and he has formed part of the team creating the regulations to govern token sales. Javi acts for the first listed crypto fund in Gibraltar and is currently assisting with a DLT e-money institution in Gibraltar.
GANT’s Treasurer is to be Vikram Khatwani, a senior manager with Deloitte in Gibraltar. He is actively involved with Deloitte’s significant tax compliance, advisory and due diligence engagements and, more recently, in developing the firm’s services in the Fintech space and specifically to business working with the blockchain and seeking to set up in Gibraltar or carry out token sales from Gibraltar. A graduate of the Warwick Business School, Vikram is also a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Gibraltar Society of Accountants.
The Association’s Training remit will be headed up by Ian Torrilla, founder of n-gineering.tech. Ian has been providing ISO9001 approved IT services to Gibraltar’s business community since 2000. For the past 18 months he has focused his activities on researching the blockchain and DLT and is committed to helping develop Gibraltar as a centre of excellence for technological and business innovation within an appropriate regulatory framework. Ian served on the board of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, spent five years on the Government E-commerce advisory board and was a board member at Young Enterprise Gibraltar Ltd. He is currently a member of the Gibraltar University Key Advisory Group for Business, regularly liaising with university teams on blockchain initiatives, and is a member of the British Blockchain Association.
Nick Cowan will be responsible for marketing. Nick is currently founder and CEO of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange Group, joins the GANT executive committee bringing with him over thirty years of investment industry experience in developed and emerging markets, working in Japan and in Europe. He also spent five years as Global Head of Equities for ING Barings serving as a Member of the Executive Committee.
Responsible for Administration will be Thomas Johnson who is Head of Operations at Digital Asset Management Ltd, taking charge of the company’s activities which include crypto custodianship, crypto over-the-counter trading and portfolio management services. He founded the Gibraltar Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Community late in 2017, hosting community events such as the ‘Blockchain – Back to Basics’ event hosted by the GSX Blockchain Innovation Centre, which has Digital Asset Management Ltd as a partner. Thomas is also a member of the British Blockchain Association.
GANT’s Technical Committees will be led by Desiree McHard and Anthony Provasoli. Desiree McHard is the MD of BDO Gibraltar, Head of audit and assurance and International Liaison Partner. She specializes in financial services with expertise in DLT, blockchain and cryptocurencies, and she as been closely involved in the IPOs of various Gibraltar companies which were listed on the London Stock Exchange. Desiree is a board member of the University of Gibraltar’s audit committee, the Gibraltar Investor Compensation Scheme, the Gibraltar Funds and Investment Association’s technical committee and the GFSC’s Auditors’ Advisory Panel. She as also served as the President of the Gibraltar Society of Accountants and as a board member of the Gibraltar Finance Centre Council.
Anthony Provasoli co-leads the Fintech team as a Partner in Hassans International Law Firm. He has been advising on cryptocurrency and blockchain related work since 2014 and assisted the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission to prepare the guidance notes for Gibraltar’s DLT Regulations. He is actively involved in advising a number of high profile cryptocurrency businesses and DLT providers.
Last week’s meeting also considered applications for membership with 7 observers, 5 FSC authorised firms, 4 firms using DLT and a further 17 advisory firms accepted into the Association. Consideration was also given to extending honorary membership to other trade associations and bodies felt could add value to GANT.
