Global Digital Finance appoints Sandra Ro to GDF Board of Directors

Hong Kong, London and New York.  7th August 2019 – Global Digital Finance (GDF), the industry body driving acceleration and adoption of digital finance, announces today that Sandra Ro, CEO of Global Blockchain Business Council, has accepted an appointment to the Board of Directors of GDF as a non-executive director, commencing 1st September 2019.

“I am honoured to be invited to join the Global Digital Finance Board of Directors. I am excited to support this community-led global effort to set standards and best practices that promote responsible conduct and compliance, as well as supporting the development of balanced regulatory policies,” says Ro.

As an early investor in crypto, she has been an advocate of the new, emerging asset class and for a prudent global regulatory framework. Recently, she was appointed to the NYS Digital Currency Taskforce and serves on the EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum. Whilst at CME Group, she started Digitisation, architected the CME CF Bitcoin pricing indices, leading to CME Bitcoin Futures.

Ro was a founding member of The Linux Foundation–Hyperledger, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance & Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group. Previously, she was CME’s Head of FX & Metals Research & Product Development and also led the EMEA M&A FX and interest rates derivatives advisory team at Morgan Stanley London and worked at Deutsche Bank London in FX & equities. Ro was named to the Innovate Finance, Women in FinTech 2016 Power List and holds directorships on industry and philanthropic boards as well as invests in emerging tech startups.

In her role as a non-executive director, she will focus on GDF growth initiatives such as supporting the acquisition and retention of key North American industry members and association partners, bolstering the development and adoption of the global GDF Code of Conduct and supporting the continued development of GDF’s regulatory and policy maker advocacy programmes globally.

“We are delighted to welcome Sandra to the GDF Board of Directors, who brings with her a wealth of blockchain and institutional finance expertise to the organisation” says Lawrence Wintermeyer, Co-chair of the GDF Board. “The quality of the work the GDF Community has produced over the past 12 months is nothing short of outstanding. We are excited to continue to grow our organisation with high-calibre industry professionals who are committed to leveraging their talents and professional networks to take GDF to the next level”.

GDF continues to engage in outreach with global regulators, standard setting bodies and nongovernmental organisations through the development of the Code to help provide a consistent professional voice of responsible industry practitioners.

Three new draft Code of Conduct Principles are currently open for public consultation until 31st August. Feedback received will be assessed and incorporated into the final Code drafts, which will be reviewed by the GDF community in open plenary during the next Global Summit on 2 October 2019. During the Summit, these Code Principles will be reviewed and ratified by the GDF community and incorporated into the GDF Code of Conduct.