The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) revealed appointment of new Chairman for its board of directors in its latest announcement. As per statement released by the firm, it has appointed Mr. Steven A Joachim as its new board Chairman. The US based executive is a seasoned veteran with more than four decades of experience in leadership roles across multiple financial service providers. He is an expert in both financial technology and innovation having served across non-profits, governmental and corporate organisations. Aside from his current role with GLEIF, he also serves as Chief Financial Officer at Smart World Productions & Global Futures Group and Chief Executive Officer at SHGB LLC. Steven succeeds Mr. Gerard Heartsink who had been serving as the Chairman of the board since 2014.
Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President of Transparency Services at FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) having remained a part of the self governing regulatory body for more than 15 years. He began his career as Managing Consultant at Cresap, McCormick & Paget Inc in August of 1978 after graduating with a Master’s degree in Carnegie Mellon University. He then joined Capital Markets (Now a part of Merrill Lynch) as its Vice President and remained a part of the firm for 16 years. He also served as Chief of Operations and Strategy at Plural for 4½ years. In his new role as Chairman of the board at the firm, Steve will focus on leading the firm’s strategic direction and stakeholder interests as the firm gears up its platform to support boarder adoption of LEI across the public and private sectors worldwide. His appointment at the firm comes shortly after the firm’s establishment of an office in New Jersey, USA to further strengthen GLEIF’s presence in North America as part of its efforts to get closer to both public and private industries across the region.
Commenting on his new role at the firm, Steven said “There has never been a more important time to advocate trust and transparency across economic markets, to promote growth and stability. In just six years, GLEIF has made tremendous progress in establishing the LEI as a globally recognized, universal solution to the challenge of establishing borderless trusted identities for legal entities. As a result of this success, the LEI has a vital role to play as the world becomes increasingly digital. I am inspired by and committed to GLEIF’s vision: to deliver one trusted unique global identifier for each business. I look forward to working with my GLEIF colleagues to achieve that goal”.
And thanked Mr. Gerard on behalf of the Board saying “I would like to thank our founding and former Chairperson, Gerard Hartsink, for his commitment, vision, and many years of successful and dedicated service to launching and building GLEIF. His leadership, guidance and close partnership with the Board colleagues and the GLEIF team has made the LEI what it is today”. Speaking on same note, Mr. Stepha Wolf – CEO of CLEIF added “I also extend my sincere gratitude to Gerard Hartsink for his unwavering support and commitment to GLEIF and the LEI over the last six years. Under Mr. Hartsink’s leadership and through the ongoing dedication of our partners, GLEIF has made tremendous progress while navigating the dynamics of an ever-changing regulatory and technological environment. Today, the LEI is a recognized global standard for business processes and reporting purposes in many jurisdictions”.
Commenting on Steven’s addition to the board, Mr. Wolf said “The huge contributions that Steve has made to the global financial and regulatory worlds, and the experience and knowledge that he has derived from his prior positions, makes him a hugely prized and well-respected addition to the GLEIF team. With his expert guidance and industry contacts, the Global Legal Entity Identifier System will continue to grow in line with increasing LEI issuance volumes. I very much look forward to our future collaboration”.
