Corda Network announces Board of Directors to establish independent governing body

London/New York. 18th April 2019 – The Corda Network Foundation, the independent oversight body which governs Corda Network, has today announced the appointment of its transitional Board of Directors for the next year. The Board includes senior figures from across financial services as well as representatives from blockchain technology companies building on Corda.

The appointments mark the beginning of a transition period which will move governance of Corda Network from the enterprise blockchain software firm R3 to a separate legal entity. The Board will be responsible for the overall governing of Corda Network as well as ensuring that the participants in Corda Network will have control over its future. The main responsibilities of the Board are to act as the formal decision-making authority for the Network.

The Board is comprised of 9 independent Directors nominated by participants in Corda Network. They join the two existing directors from R3. The Board’s decision making will be transparent and available to all Corda Network participants.

This transitional Board will remain in place for one year, after which, steady state elections will commence, and all full participants of Corda Network will be able to vote for and stand for election to the Board of Directors. The board is designed to include people from all across Corda Network in order to ensure fair representation to all those who operate within the Network.

Corda Network provides a common layer of identity, consensus and governance for participants on Corda and Corda Enterprise. It is an open shared layer which enables interoperability between participants on the Network. Participants who join Corda Network will be able to move cash, digital assets and identity data from one application or line of business to another. Corda Network also supports sub-groups of participants running their own CorDapps or Business Networks.

The transitional Directors are:

Andrei Ilchenko           Head of IT Wholesale Banking Channels, ING, Europe

Alain Verschueren       Head of Innovation & DLT, Trade Finance Competence Centre, BNP Paribas, Europe

Masayuki Miyashita     Head of Structured Trade Group, Global Trade Finance Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Asia

Joshua Kroeker           Director, Blockchain Lead for Global Commercial Banking, HSBC, Asia

Andrew Speers            Director, Product and Innovation, NatWest, Europe

Jordane Rollin             Executive Director & Head, Digital Transformation, Trade Finance Global Products, Standard Chartered, Asia

Markus Tradt               Chief Technology Officer, B3i, Europe

Edwin Oversteeg         Manager, Organisational Development, Achmea, Europe

Greg Crow                   Global Head of Architecture, AXA XL, Europe

David Rutter, CEO and founder of R3, says: “Our vision for Corda Network is that it will become an ‘internet of nodes’ for blockchain, enabling global connectivity on Corda. Just like the internet, trust in Corda Network’s independence is crucial for its success. When we launched Corda Network earlier this year, we promised that it would be run by its users, for its users. This will allow users to integrate multiple Corda applications or CorDapps into their workflow, confident that decisions about the technology are being made in their interests. The appointment of the transitional Board is a vital first step to full independence and I’m confident that Corda Network has been placed in safe hands.”