Latest news with #PeterHughes
Finextra
21-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Apex acquires majority stake in tokenisation firm
Fund administrator Apex Group has acquired a controlling stake in Luxembourg-based Tokeny in a move designed to spearhead a push into the tokenisation market. 2 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. Tokenisation, whereby securities are represented on a blockchain-based, distributed ledger, has been seen as a way for the investment industry to embrace digital technology and reach a broader audience of potential investors. Following an initial investment in December 2023, Apex will eventually control 100% of the company over the next three years. According to Apex, the deal shows the fund services firm's commitment to push the institutional adoption of the tokenisation as well as bolstering its own digital assets infrastructure. 'Tokenisation is a foundational shift in how assets will be managed, distributed, and accessed," said Peter Hughes, founder and CEO of Apex Group. "Our strengthened partnership with Tokeny is key to delivering on our vision to be the infrastructure provider in the digital era of finance.' 'Expanding our partnership to now being part of Apex Group enables us to move faster and serve more institutions with a truly global footprint," added Luc Falempin, Tokeny CEO. "We're proud to align with their vision to deliver tangible innovation to the financial industry.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apex Group Buys Majority Stake in Tokenization Specialist Tokeny as RWA Trend Soars
Apex Group, a financial services provider with more than $3 trillion in assets under administration, said on Tuesday it had acquired a majority stake in Tokeny, a Luxembourg-based firm that helps institutions tokenize real-world assets (RWA) on public blockchains. According to the deal, Apex expects to take full ownership of Tokeny over the next three years, after first investing in the company in late 2023, Apex said in a press release. The companies did not disclose the terms of the acquisition in the press release, and a spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. The acquisition comes as more traditional financial firms are looking at tokenization as the next frontier in capital markets, using blockchain technology for moving assets like bonds, funds and other securities. For institutional investors, the process promises simpler cross-border transactions, faster settlement and new liquidity channels. Tokenized assets could be a $18 trillion market by 2033, a report from BCG and Ripple last month projected. "Tokenization is a foundational shift in how assets will be managed, distributed, and accessed," Apex founder and CEO Peter Hughes said in a statement. "Our strengthened partnership with Tokeny is key to delivering on our vision to be the infrastructure provider in the digital era of finance." Tokeny's infrastructure has already been used to tokenize over $32 billion in assets, supporting the full life cycle of tokenized securities — from issuance to transfer to compliance — and is best known for establishing ERC-3643, a widely used standard for compliant digital asset transfers, the press release said. Apex said Tokeny's team and tools will be brought in-house, and it aims to offer clients a turnkey infrastructure for blockchain-based finance, layering smart contracts and decentralized protocols on top of its traditional in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
07-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Coinbase AM Selects Apex Group to Provide Digital Fund Administration Services Amid Surge in Digital Asset Adoption
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - May 7, 2025) - Apex Group, the leading global financial services provider, has announced it has been selected by Coinbase Asset Management (Coinbase AM) 1 to provide fund administration services, which will be delivered by Apex Malta, specifically tailored for digital asset strategies and its newly announced Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund (CBYF). This mandate further strengthens Apex Group's strategic alliance with Coinbase AM and reflects the growing institutional adoption of digital assets, driven by the increasing demand for innovative yield-generating projects like CBYF. It also aligns with the broader trend of institutional investors seeking secure, reliable solutions to integrate digital assets into their portfolios amidst heightened regulatory standards and evolving market dynamics. Peter Hughes Apex Group's Founder and CEO, says: 'We're extremely pleased to strengthen our alliance with Coinbase AM to support the launch of CBYF this month. This fund further expands global access to meet the growing demand for bitcoin yield. 'Apex Group has ten years of expertise in crypto fund administration and is committed to innovation. We also have the ability to deliver secure, reliable and scalable solutions and pride ourselves on our capacity to handle the complexities of digital asset fund administration transfer agency and distribution while adhering to fiduciary standards.' Matt Lundy, Coinbase AM's COO and CRO, says: 'The recent launch of the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund has been met with incredible demand from institutional investors looking to earn yield on their Bitcoin holdings. Apex Group's experience in the digital asset space and innovative thinking have allowed us to seamlessly deliver this unique international, institutional-grade Fund with Apex Group's best-in-class administrator services to investors. We are thrilled to continue to build on our relationship with Apex Group.' Aspen Digital, an FSRA-regulated digital asset manager, also played a significant role by seeding the fund and serving as an exclusive wealth-distribution partner in the UAE and Asia. -ends- Newsroom Chanel Townsend | Head of media relations [email protected] | +447391046830 Notes to editors About Apex Group Apex Group is dedicated to driving positive change in financial services while supporting the growth and ambitions of asset managers, allocators, financial institutions, and family offices. Established in Bermuda in 2003, the Group has continually disrupted the industry through its investment in innovation and talent. Today, Apex Group sets the pace in fund and asset servicing and stands out for its unique single-source solution and unified cross asset-class platform which supports the entire value chain, harnesses leading innovative technology, and benefits from cross-jurisdictional expertise delivered by a long-standing management team and over 13,000 highly integrated professionals. Apex Group leads the industry with a broad and unmatched range of services, including capital raising, business and corporate management, fund and investor administration, portfolio and investment administration, ESG, capital markets and transactions support. These services are tailored to each client and are delivered both at the Group level and via specialist subsidiary brands. The Apex Foundation, a not-for-profit entity, is the Group's passionate commitment to empower sustainable change. 1 Coinbase Asset Management LLC and CBAM (Cayman) Ltd. SECZ, both entities are collectively referred to as Coinbase Asset Management To view the source version of this press release, please visit
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Yahoo
'Everything went off': How Spain and Portugal's massive power cut unfolded
The first sign of trouble Peter Hughes noticed was when his train to Madrid starting to slow down. Then the TV monitor and lights went off. Emergency lights switched on, but did not last, and the locomotive ground to a halt. Four hours later, Mr Hughes was still stuck on the train 200 kilometres (124 miles) outside of Spain's capital. He had food and water, but the toilets were not working. "It will be getting dark soon and we could be stuck here for hours," he told the BBC. The massive power cut that stranded Mr Hughes triggered chaos across Spain and Portugal, and also impacted Andorra and parts of France, from about midday local time (10:00 GMT). Traffic lights shut off. Metros closed. Businesses shuttered and people joined queues to get cash as card payments did not work. Jonathan Emery was on a different train halfway between Seville and Madrid when the cuts hit. For an hour, he sat on the train, the doors closed, until people could pry them open to let in ventilation. Half an hour later, passengers left, only to find themselves stranded. That was when people from local villages started coming and dropping off supplies – water, bread, fruit. "Nobody is charging for anything, and word must be getting around in the local town because people just keep coming," he said. In Madrid, Hannah Lowney was half way through scanning her grocery shopping at Aldi when the power went out. People were coming out of their offices and walking home because they could not tell when the buses were coming, Ms Lowney said in a voice message sent to BBC Radio 5 Live. "It's a bit disconcerting that it's the whole country, I've never experienced this before," she said. Mark England was eating lunch in the restaurant of the hotel where is staying on holiday in Benidorm when "everything went off and the fire alarm started going off and the fire doors started closing". In an international school in Lisbon, the electricity flickered on and off for a while, then gave up, teacher Emily Thorowgood said. She kept teaching in the dark, the children in good spirits, but lots of parents were taking their children out of school, she said. Will David, a Briton living in Lisbon, was having a haircut and beard trim in the basement of a barber when the power went down. The barber found him a spot by the window upstairs to finish the cut with scissors. "The walk home felt very strange, both with the lack of traffic lights meaning a complete free-for-all for vehicles and pedestrians on the roads - as well as so many people milling around outside their places of work with nothing to do," he said. Initially, mobile phone networks also went down for some, leaving many scrambling for information. Curtis Gladden, who is in La Vall D'Uixo, about 30 miles from Valencia, said it was "scary" as he struggled to get updates about what was happening. Eloise Edgington, who could not do any work as a copywriter in Barcelona, said she was only receiving occasional messages, could not load web pages on her phone and was trying to conserve her battery. An hour and a half after the power went out, one resident of Fortuna, in south-east Spain, said her husband was driving around, trying to find a petrol station that could supply fuel to run a generator and keep their fridge powered. "We are worried about food, water, cash and petrol in case this goes on for a couple of days," said Lesley, a Brit who has been living in Spain for 11 years. Locals "have more to worry about" than the Madrid Open tennis tournament being suspended, she said, adding there is "very little news about what's happened". Mr England said walking down the street in Benidorm, a "majority of shops are in darkness and shuttered or have people on the entrances saying you can't come in. There's no cash machines, no traffic lights so it's strange." After Mr Gladden's phone signal returned after about two hours, he and others ventured out to cafes, but found "nothing is working – we came to get some food and a drink but they can't cook without electricity". Within two hours, Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica said it was beginning to recover power in the north and south of the country. But two-and-a-half hours after the cuts, Madrid's mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida still urged all residents to "keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are", in a video recorded from the city's integrated emergency security centre. At 15:00 local time, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pulled together an "extraordinary" meeting of Spain's national security council. Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto said at a news conference shortly afterwards that it could take "between six and ten hours" to restore power. Just before 16:00, electricity flicked back on in Malaga. By 17:00, the grid operator said power was being restored "in several areas of the north, south and west of the [Iberian] peninsula". Portugal's power firm REN gave a more dire prediction, saying that it could "take up to a week" before the network was back to normal. Knock on effects continue: Back-up generators at airports kicked on, allowing most flights to leave on time, but some have been unable to operate. Tom McGilloway, on holiday in Lisbon, was due to return to London on Monday night, but as of early evening did not know what would happen. He said for the time being people were getting drinks and food - but vendors told him they would only be able to keep working until the batteries ran out on their payment terminals. "If I need to book a hotel if the plane is cancelled, I don't know how I can do it if payments are down," he added. "My partner's parents are trying to get petrol so they can pick us up to take us back to Alentejo but many petrol stations are closed or not taking payment. We might be stuck with no plan for where to stay tonight." Have you been affected? Email haveyoursay@ Additional reporting and research by Andree Massiah, Kris Bramwell, James Kelly, Bernadette McCague, Josh Parry and Naga Munchetty
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Yahoo
'Everything went off': How Spain and Portugal's massive power cut unfolded
The first sign of trouble Peter Hughes noticed was when his train to Madrid starting to slow down. Then the TV monitor and lights went off. Emergency lights switched on, but did not last, and the locomotive ground to a halt. Four hours later, Mr Hughes was still stuck on the train 200 kilometres (124 miles) outside of Spain's capital. He had food and water, but the toilets were not working. "It will be getting dark soon and we could be stuck here for hours," he told the BBC. The massive power cut that stranded Mr Hughes triggered chaos across Spain and Portugal, and also impacted Andorra and parts of France, from about midday local time (10:00 GMT). Traffic lights shut off. Metros closed. Businesses shuttered and people joined queues to get cash as card payments did not work. Jonathan Emery was on a different train halfway between Seville and Madrid when the cuts hit. For an hour, he sat on the train, the doors closed, until people could pry them open to let in ventilation. Half an hour later, passengers left, only to find themselves stranded. That was when people from local villages started coming and dropping off supplies – water, bread, fruit. "Nobody is charging for anything, and word must be getting around in the local town because people just keep coming," he said. In Madrid, Hannah Lowney was half way through scanning her grocery shopping at Aldi when the power went out. People were coming out of their offices and walking home because they could not tell when the buses were coming, Ms Lowney said in a voice message sent to BBC Radio 5 Live. "It's a bit disconcerting that it's the whole country, I've never experienced this before," she said. Mark England was eating lunch in the restaurant of the hotel where is staying on holiday in Benidorm when "everything went off and the fire alarm started going off and the fire doors started closing". In an international school in Lisbon, the electricity flickered on and off for a while, then gave up, teacher Emily Thorowgood said. She kept teaching in the dark, the children in good spirits, but lots of parents were taking their children out of school, she said. Will David, a Briton living in Lisbon, was having a haircut and beard trim in the basement of a barber when the power went down. The barber found him a spot by the window upstairs to finish the cut with scissors. "The walk home felt very strange, both with the lack of traffic lights meaning a complete free-for-all for vehicles and pedestrians on the roads - as well as so many people milling around outside their places of work with nothing to do," he said. Initially, mobile phone networks also went down for some, leaving many scrambling for information. Curtis Gladden, who is in La Vall D'Uixo, about 30 miles from Valencia, said it was "scary" as he struggled to get updates about what was happening. Eloise Edgington, who could not do any work as a copywriter in Barcelona, said she was only receiving occasional messages, could not load web pages on her phone and was trying to conserve her battery. An hour and a half after the power went out, one resident of Fortuna, in south-east Spain, said her husband was driving around, trying to find a petrol station that could supply fuel to run a generator and keep their fridge powered. "We are worried about food, water, cash and petrol in case this goes on for a couple of days," said Lesley, a Brit who has been living in Spain for 11 years. Locals "have more to worry about" than the Madrid Open tennis tournament being suspended, she said, adding there is "very little news about what's happened". Mr England said walking down the street in Benidorm, a "majority of shops are in darkness and shuttered or have people on the entrances saying you can't come in. There's no cash machines, no traffic lights so it's strange." After Mr Gladden's phone signal returned after about two hours, he and others ventured out to cafes, but found "nothing is working – we came to get some food and a drink but they can't cook without electricity". Within two hours, Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica said it was beginning to recover power in the north and south of the country. But two-and-a-half hours after the cuts, Madrid's mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida still urged all residents to "keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are", in a video recorded from the city's integrated emergency security centre. At 15:00 local time, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pulled together an "extraordinary" meeting of Spain's national security council. Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto said at a news conference shortly afterwards that it could take "between six and ten hours" to restore power. Just before 16:00, electricity flicked back on in Malaga. By 17:00, the grid operator said power was being restored "in several areas of the north, south and west of the [Iberian] peninsula". Portugal's power firm REN gave a more dire prediction, saying that it could "take up to a week" before the network was back to normal. Knock on effects continue: Back-up generators at airports kicked on, allowing most flights to leave on time, but some have been unable to operate. Tom McGilloway, on holiday in Lisbon, was due to return to London on Monday night, but as of early evening did not know what would happen. He said for the time being people were getting drinks and food - but vendors told him they would only be able to keep working until the batteries ran out on their payment terminals. "If I need to book a hotel if the plane is cancelled, I don't know how I can do it if payments are down," he added. "My partner's parents are trying to get petrol so they can pick us up to take us back to Alentejo but many petrol stations are closed or not taking payment. We might be stuck with no plan for where to stay tonight." Have you been affected? Email haveyoursay@ Additional reporting and research by Andree Massiah, Kris Bramwell, James Kelly, Bernadette McCague, Josh Parry and Naga Munchetty
