The Blockchain Association for Finance (BAF) announces the election of three new members to its Board of Directors. The newly elected Directors are Michael Chaille, Sébastien Capt and Pascal Schmohl. As of the date hereof, the Board of Directors of the Association comprises Mr. Michael Chaille, Chairman (Alpha FMC), Mr. Cédric Haenni, Treasurer (Pictet), Mr. Benoit Barbereau (Edmond de Rothschild), Mr. Sébastien Capt (Prime Partners), Mr. Laurent Pellet (Lombard Odier), Mr. Pascal Schmohl (swiss partners) and Mr. Michel Yigit (Julius Baer).

Benoit Barbereau, part of the founding Board of Directors, announced, “I am thrilled to welcome these three highly skilled professionals. Their unique backgrounds and diverse experience will make them great assets to the association and its members in this expansion phase.”

In just one year, the association brings together 13 private banks and 80 of the industry's leading External Asset Managers (EAMs), globally managing over $1’800 billion in assets management.

“In our current growth phase, it is important to have a governance structure that represents the interests of our clients whether they are EAMs or banks in Geneva, Zurich or Ticino. With this Board and the arrival of Alpha FMC, the ambition is to accelerate adoption, to develop new use cases, in Switzerland, but also internationally. We are delighted with this development," says Vincent Pignon, CEO of We can Group which provides the platform used by the BAF participants.

"It’s an honour to have been appointed as BAF Director. I am pleased to put both my personal experience and Alpha’s global capabilities at the disposal of the Association to further support its development," said Michael Chaille - Global Head of Wealth Management at Alpha FMC. Having worked with more than 50 different financial institutions, Michael intends to help the Association analyze market trends, identify best practices as well as leverage past engagements to define standards that fit industry expectations.

“The Blockchain Association for Finance presents a great opportunity for EAM to evolve into digitalization processes and to stay on top of innovation. A common standard among custodian banks and EAM is crucial in order to manoeuvre into the complex world of finance and regulations. I look forward to representing EAM views on this constructive subject,” said Sébastien Capt – CEO of Prime Partners SA, an EAM company founded in 1998.

"I am convinced that the Blockchain Technology will be the key differentiator when it comes to efficiently managing Compliance requirements and ensuring Compliance standards in the future,” said Pascal Schmohl - a member of the Executive Board at swiss partners with responsibility for Governance, Risk Management and Compliance. As a Director, Pascal aims to support the BAF in legal and regulatory matters and will further establish the Association as a key industry body.