Balance Commits $10,000,000 of Capital Towards Registering Balance Trust Company
02 Julio 2024 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
Balance, Canada’s oldest and largest digital asset custodian, is
happy to announce the incorporation of Balance Trust Company as a
special purpose trust under the Loan and Trust Corporations Act
(Alberta). In connection with the issuance of the letters patent by
Alberta’s Treasury Board and Finance (ATBF), Balance committed
$10,000,000 of regulatory capital into this new wholly-owned
subsidiary towards becoming a qualified Canadian and US
custodian.
This achievement is the culmination of over a year and a half
worth of work, including closely coordinating with the ATBF since
formally submitting the application in late August of last year.
Since then, Balance:
- audited its financial statements and performed its first
independent proof of assets under custody;
- got SOC 2 Type 2 certified and performed an in-depth
penetration test of its systems with a top-tier global firm;
- bolstered its insurance program by purchasing additional
capacity for its vault risk, D&O, and cyber liability
policies;
- added a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance and Risk
Officer to its senior management team.
The board of directors of Balance Trust Company is composed
of:
- George Bordianu (internal seat) is the co-founder,
President, and CEO of Balance, Canada’s largest digital asset
custodian. George is a second-time founder with a strong technical
background and holds an MSc. in Computer Science degree from McGill
University. Prior to Balance, he worked in the digital media sector
as 500px's Director of Engineering. Before 500px, he was the
co-founder and CTO of YourExtraLife, an early mobile social
network.
- Alex McDougall (affiliated seat) is the co-founder and
CIO of Bicameral Ventures, one of Canada’s first native digital
asset venture funds, and an early investor in Balance. He is also
the President and CEO of Stablecorp, and a former Managing Director
at 3iQ, the issuer of North America's first Bitcoin ETF. Prior to
Bicameral Ventures, Alex built his career as an investment banker
at Bank of Montreal, where he was recognized as a leader within
their Capital Markets team.
- James Slazas (affiliated seat) is the founding partner
and CEO of DARMA Capital, a CFTC-registered US commodity trading
advisor, pool operator, and swap firm managing in excess of $1.5B
in digital assets. He is also the President and CEO of VaultLink
and an early investor in Balance. James brings over 30 years of
experience in the financial industry, having created the Global
Risk Management group across Lehman Brothers' London, Hong Kong,
and Swiss banks, as well as more recently ConsenSys Capital, as its
founding member and Director of Capital Markets.
- Colin Pyle (unaffiliated seat) is the EVP of Strategy
and Corporate Development at RFA Capital Holdings, which serves as
the umbrella organization for RFA Bank of Canada, RFA Mortgage
Finance, and several other subsidiaries. Combined, the RFA group of
companies has over $65 billion in assets under management and an
additional $25+ billion in assets under administration. Colin
joined RFA in 2019 and was instrumental in the acquisition of
Street Capital Bank of Canada, now called RFA Bank of Canada, where
he subsequently served as the Vice-President of Capital Markets,
Treasury, and Digital Assets & Venture.
- Jean Desgagné (unaffiliated seat) is a Bay Street
veteran with over 30 years of experience. He is the former
President and CEO of the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS),
as well as TMX Global Solutions and both an angel investor and
early advisor to Balance. The CDS is the world’s second-largest
post-trade financial services company in the world with over $5
trillion dollars worth of assets in custody. Jean currently serves
on multiple boards as an independent director, including CAA Club
Group, BDO Canada, and Province of Ontario’s Internal Audit
Committee (IT Sector, Chair). He also served on the board of 3iQ
and is the former Chair of CPA Ontario.
Over the coming weeks, Balance’s focus is on registering Balance
Trust Company to commence operations as a qualified custodian,
enabling it to serve public ETF and mutual fund issuers, investment
broker-dealers, and advisers.
“Canadian regulated entities are still forced to this day to use
US custodians or Canadian custodians leveraging US-based
technology. We’re laser-focused on bringing a truly local solution
to the ecosystem and are grateful to the team at the ATBF for their
help and guidance in achieving this mission and for granting us
this letters patent,” said George Bordianu, co-founder and
CEO of Balance.
“Balance has truly built a next-generation custodian. Its
platform and technology deliver above and beyond those of large
industry names, which is why we’re enthusiastic to provide them
with the needed capital and resources to become qualified and
expand to the Canadian and the US regulated markets,” said James
Slazas, CEO of 007 Capital.
In addition to its flagship digital asset custody solution,
which secures over $2.5 billion worth of assets, Balance Trust
Company will offer fiat custody, collateral management, and escrow
services upon registration. To learn more, visit
www.balance.ca.
Disclaimer
PARADISO VENTURES INC. O/A Balance is a private company
incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, R.S.C.,
1985, c. C-44, with its registered office address at 888 3rd St SW,
Bankers Hall West Tower, 10th floor (Attn: Balance), Calgary,
Alberta, T2P 5C5, Canada, which sells digital goods and services.
Balance is registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports
Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a money services business
dealing in virtual currencies with registration number M20210422
and with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a money services business with
registration number 31000258737080. This is not an offer or
solicitation of any investment contract or financial security and
should not be misconstrued as such. Balance does not provide
financial, investment, tax, legal, or any other type of
professional advice. Digital assets and the blockchain are early
technologies and as such have an associated high degree of risk.
For informational purposes only.
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Josh Le media@balance.ca +1 (833) 225-7030