DriveWealth has appointed Venu Palaparthi as Chief Operating Officer to oversee Brokerage-as-a-Service platform’s risk and compliance functions, in addition to lending his strategic expertise to the company’s ongoing international expansion.
Starting in his new role on September 16th and reporting to Michael Blaugrund, CEO of DriveWealth, Venu Palaparthi brings nearly 30 years of experience in financial markets across asset classes, products, and jurisdictions.
Venu Palaparthi joins DriveWealth after Patomak, Nasdaq, Virtu, Dash, Tagomi, Dash
Venu Palaparthi joins DriveWealth after serving as Managing Director at Patomak Global Partners, where he was responsible for advising clients on business and regulatory strategy, risk management, and a wide variety of compliance solutions spanning securities, commodities, fintech, and cryptocurrency.
Prior to that, Palaparthi has held a number of senior positions at prominent financial institutions including Nasdaq, Virtu Financial, Tagomi Holdings (now part of Coinbase Institutional), Dash Financial Technologies, and more.
He has also served in a number of thought leadership roles within the financial industry, including as a member of the SEC Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee’s Market Quality Subcommittee, the FINRA Small Firm Advisory Committee, and the Shanghai Gold Exchange International Advisory Board.
He has also served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown University. Palaparthi holds FINRA Series 7, 14, 24, 27 (FINOP), 56 and 63 licenses.
“We’re fortunate to have hired someone with such deep financial market expertise”
Michael Blaugrund, CEO of DriveWealth, said: “We have thoughtfully expanded our leadership team in recent months as we prepare for our next phase of growth and continue to expand our operations across the globe. Venu will play a key role in these efforts, working with the rest of senior leadership to ensure our platform is designed for regulatory compliance as it scales and supports a broader range of investment opportunities. We’re fortunate to have hired someone with such deep financial market expertise and look forward to all that he will bring to DriveWealth.”
Venu Palaparthi, Chief Operating Officer at DriveWealth, said: “I’m thrilled to join DriveWealth at such an exciting time as the company embarks on its next stage of growth. DriveWealth’s world-class technology and global approach are unmatched. I look forward to helping further establish the company as the go-to global partner of choice for tech-forward asset managers, banks and broker dealers, digital wallets and consumer brands looking to deliver seamless investing experiences to their end-clients.”
DriveWealth recently promoted Jason Pizzorusso as President, Marcus Anthony as Chief Financial Officer, and Emily Ellis as Chief People Officer.
The firm also hired former Morgan Stanley leaders, Kyla Murphy as Chief Product Officer and Lauren Veisz as Head of Operations.
Featuring patented fractional trading and Brokerage-as-a-Service API technologies, DriveWealth allows both established companies and emerging digital-native firms to provide securities trading to their customers. Its institutional trading capability includes order routing, clearing, custody, stock loan, enhanced liquidity, and NYSE Floor execution.
