Northern Trust Appoints APAC Digital Assets Head

Continuing the move by banks in the traditional custody space into digital assets, Northern Trust has made a senior appointment in Asia-Pacific.

Alvin Chia has been named head of digital assets innovation for the region, he will be based in Singapore and responsible for delivering innovations aligned to Northern Trust’s digital asset strategy. The bank formed a digital assets and financial markets group in June 2022 and has partnered with Standard Chartered to form Zodia Custody.

Northern Trust says Chia will be tasked with collaborating with industry bodies, fintechs, regulators and government entities to positively influence market change. He reports to Justin Chapman, global head of digital assets and financial markets.

Chia was most recently the expert senior manager of Innovation at Bain and Company. Prior to this, he was the vice president of innovation at DBS Bank.

“We continue to see the pace of innovation continuing across the funds administration and custody sector, with the APAC region experiencing a transformational period of change in light of new technologies,” says Chapman. “We are pleased to appoint Alvin to this new role, leveraging his deep skills in fintech to help us continue to drive change and support our clients’ requirements.”