Regulated Digital Asset Derivatives

GFO-X is now live as the UK’s first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue dedicated to digital asset derivatives.

UK FCA authorised and regulated, GFO-X is connected to the world's largest financial institutions and has partnered with a leading Clearing House LCH SA. Together this ensures that digital asset derivatives trading and clearing requirements can be met within a secure, highly regulated environment.

GFO-X provides liquidity, institutional connectivity, risk mitigation, high-performance technology and optimised contract specifications.

About The GFO-X Group

The GFO-X Group is a global market infrastructure provider focused on regulated digital asset derivatives. With operations in London, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi, the Group offers global access to institutional-grade execution and clearing services across key financial centres. GFO-X UK is the first FCA authorised, centrally cleared Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) for digital asset derivatives, with all contracts cleared via LCH DigitalAssetClear.

The Group has now expanded into Abu Dhabi, receiving In-Principle Approval from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to operate as a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) and Recognised Clearing House (RCH). GFO-X AD will offer 24/7 trading and clearing, supporting both cash-settled and physically delivered derivatives, as well as other listed products, and enable digital assets to be used as margin—unlocking new pathways for institutional participation.

Backed by M&G Investments and supported by leading financial institutions, GFO-X Group is building the next generation of regulated infrastructure to integrate digital assets into mainstream finance, with a focus on transparency, risk management, and collateral mobility.

Meet the Team

Arnab Sen

Chief Executive Officer

Twenty years of investment and asset management experience. Founder of Harbour Capital, a fully licensed and regulated multi-strategy investment firm in Hong Kong. A deep understanding of institutional financial trading and operational requirements under a licensed regime (margining, risk management, trading, clearing and settlement). Advisor to multiple successful start-ups. Previous roles include Portfolio Manager at Tiger cub asset manager Nezu Asia, portfolio manager at HSZ Group (US$1.4bn Long Only Fund and L/S fund). Arnab started his career at UBS and has an economics degree from Cambridge University.

Raj Melwani

Chief Financial Officer & Chief Commercial Officer

Over twenty-five years investment markets experience specialising in derivatives. Former COO and responsible officer at Harbour Capital. Former Managing Director and Head of Derivative Sales at BofAML and UBS. Spent over a decade as a key relationship manager developing and expanding relationships with both Hedge Funds and Institutions. Focused on understanding client needs and management of portfolio risk. Led & managed large regional teams, distributing both over the counter (OTC) & listed derivatives across the Asia Pacific region with a deep understanding of derivative products, exchanges and regulations. Early in his career Raj managed regional volatility trading books & priced and traded plain vanilla & exotic options at BZW.

Jon Mann

Chief Technology Officer

Twenty years of management experience in software development and information technology operations having managed teams of developers and systems operation staff of more than 200. Jon worked with IBM Global Services and Sun Microsystems, consulting with various regulated entities, including Citibank. Provided solutions for the US Department of Defense in a secure telecommunications manufacturing facility. Worked at Orc software, a sister company to OMX (now NASDAQ). An original member of Eclipse Trading, one of the largest derivative market-making firms in Asia as head of software development for the proprietary high frequency and low latency derivatives market-making platform. Jon has been involved in blockchain and digital asset technology since 2012, and consulted with various large digital asset exchanges and trading firms.

Sabrina Wilson

Chief Operating Officer

A seasoned leader with more than 30 years of experience across global financial institutions and the digital asset space. Sabrina previously held executive and international leadership positions in London and New York at J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citi, where she most recently served as Managing Director, Global Head of Futures, OTC Clearing, and FX Prime Brokerage, as well as Global Head of Listed Electronic Execution. More recently, she held the role of Group Chief Operating Officer of Copper Technologies (UK) Ltd, a leading provider of digital asset custody services.

Mark Woodward

Global Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

Over 20 years of experience in operating financial markets for listed and OTC derivatives. During a 19-year career at Intercontinental Exchange, Mark was integral to the launch and development of ICE Clear Europe, London’s first clearing house for 100 years. Mark helped grow the clearing franchise through integration of clearing for NYSE Liffe, ICE Futures US and ICE Endex markets, the launch of Europe’s leading OTC CDS clearing service and a series of new product launches. Mark also managed the launch of the first derivatives contracts for the EU’s carbon trading scheme which is now the world’s leading environmental product suite. Mark also managed the launch of the first derivatives contracts for the EU’s carbon trading scheme, now the leading carbon market. Prior to ICE, Mark worked at BP Plc and the Financial Services Authority. Mark has well-established senior relationships across global financial institutions, market participants and regulatory bodies and is a regular panellist at industry conferences.

Greg Griffin

Chief Information Officer

Over twenty-five years of experience in financial markets and a derivatives trading specialist. Greg started his career at Hull Trading (subsequently purchased by Goldman Sachs). A former Executive Director Morgan Stanley and Head of Asia Market Making desk and Co-Head of USA options book (one of the largest options primary market makers in the USA). One of the Senior Management Team and Head Quant at Eclipse Options. Founding member of the Electronic Trading Association in HK, helping regulators better understand and improve electronic automated markets. Greg worked with HKEX and SGX designing derivative contract specifications, market-making programs, analyzing anomalous market behaviours and authoring responses to regulator’s request for consultation. Recently, Greg was the general manager of Demarc Capital focused on digital asset quantitative automated trading.

Thavy Read

Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO)

Over fifteen years of experience in Human Capital services across various industry sectors within APAC and EMEA. She has a proven track record in recruiting mid to senior-level executives across financial and professional services (legal, accounting, and media), with a network that spans investment, retail, and private banking. Highly skilled across multiple verticals, including Recruitment, Project Management, Executive Search, Employee Engagement, Performance Management, Talent Development, and firmwide D&I initiatives. Thavy has a passion for helping businesses grow, securing and developing the right talent for current and future needs. She has been based in Asia for over nineteen years and has a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese and Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Nicholas Studholme-Wilson

Chief Operating Officer - Asia

Over thirty years of investment market experience, predominantly working for hedge funds in London and Hong Kong, managing the business's investment and non-investment sides. Former Chief Operating Officer of ActusRayPartners, an SFC and SEC-licensed quantitative hedge fund, he built the operational and compliance divisions. Before that, he was the COO of HakuCapital and Richlink. Having launched businesses in multiple jurisdictions, he has built a diverse knowledge base in financial markets, and as a technology analyst for over 20 years, he has closely followed innovation.

Huong Hauduc

Head of Legal

A seasoned legal and compliance leader with over 20 years of experience across financial market infrastructures, broking, trading and clearing. She was integral to the establishment of the CME Clearing House in Europe, helping to define its legal and regulatory architecture during a transformative period for global markets. Her career also includes senior roles at Bequant, R.J. O’Brien and Gain Capital, where she led cross-border legal and regulatory strategy. She has a deep understanding on legal and regulatory strategy, risk management, compliance, and corporate governance in both traditional and digital financial services. Huong began her legal career at CMS, before joining Allen & Overy to advise major financial institutions on complex and high value transactions.

Mark Lovell

Head of Operations

With over 30 years of experience in financial markets, particularly in the listed derivatives space, Mark began his career at LIFFE with ING Derivatives as a yellow jacket and Euromark pit trader. He then transitioned into Operations, gaining in-depth knowledge of Front Office, Clearing, Deliveries, Reconciliation, and regulatory processes. Mark later moved into project delivery, successfully managing the implementation of multiple complex change programs. Mark's extensive experience spans working with Brokers, Vendors, and Banks, including Cargill, Fimat, Newedge, FIS (formerly Sungard), Traiana, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America

Neil Thomas

Head of Business Development

Neil is a senior financial markets executive with over 20 years of experience spanning traditional finance and digital assets. He has been at the forefront of innovation in market infrastructure, shaping the evolution of digital trading venues and regulated exchanges. As Chief Commercial Officer and a founding executive at AsiaNext, a MAS-regulated crypto and digital securities exchange, Neil led the launch of one of Asia’s first institutional-grade platforms for crypto derivatives, spot, and digital securities. AsiaNext evolved from concept to a multi-billion-dollar trading venue, combining institutional and crypto native liquidity with a rigorous approach to compliance and market integrity. Previously, Neil served as Head of Asia Pacific for SIX Group (the Swiss Stock Exchange), where he was instrumental in driving growth across multiple regulated entities, including post-trade, market data, and fintech innovation arms. His efforts included securing key partnerships, leading regulatory engagement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and serving on several boards across the region.

Barry Gausden

Chief of AI & Innovation

Barry Gausden has over twenty years of experience in the financial services and technology sectors with a particular focus on equity derivatives technology. Barry has held senior positions at Itiviti as the product lead for APAC and at Digital Asset where he was the Delivery and Service lead for APAC. Prior experience includes designing and developing algorithmic trading solutions, leading consultancy teams, and developing ERP solutions including warehouse management and advertising attribution systems.

Magda Barszczewska

Head of Finance

Over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance within the financial sector in EMEA. Previously the finance director for Makor Securities London Limited. As a core finance team member, Magda managed all European entities. Magda has a proven track record of supporting and growing clients within the equity, fixed income, FX and specialised strategies divisions. Highly skilled in advanced taxation, financial management, and corporate entities across different regions and trading platforms. Magda is passionate about the financial technology industry while implementing and building new processes. Magda is a Chartered Accountant with a Master’s Degree from Warsaw University.

Lee Hogarth

Head of Market Surveillance

With over 35 years of experience, Lee is a seasoned expert in financial futures trading and surveillance. He began as an open outcry pit trader/broker at NatWest Markets on LIFFE, transitioning to 16 years of proprietary trading in derivatives. Notably, he spent 7 years at ICE Benchmark Administration, overseeing surveillance for critical benchmarks like LIBOR, LBMA Gold and Silver fixings, US Treasury closing prices, and Interest Rate Swaps.

Alicia Ju

Head of Project Management

Nearly a decade of experience in financial services across the US and Europe. Previously an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, Alicia project managed division-wide and cross-divisional large-scale deliverables across sales and trading, operations, technology, risk and controllers. Earlier in her career, Alicia delivered assurance services to banking and capital market clients at Deloitte in New York and London, managing teams across EMEA, the Americas and Asia. Alicia has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Dom Penton

Strategic Advisor

Over twenty-five years of investment markets experience. Former Managing Director and Head of Equity Sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and the UK. Key relationship manager for top tier institutional accounts across a complex product suite, including prime brokerage services. Considerable experience implementing and monitoring compliance to best in class internal and external rules and regulations. Recent roles include product development at Floww, a disruptive venture capital platform, and strategic financial consultant to Block.one on crypto-related projects. An active investor in early-stage fintech companies. Previously licensed with the Hong Kong SFC and FINRA.

Simon Fraser

Advisor

Over thirty years working at GCM’s specialising in listed derivatives and OTC execution and clearing. Recently a senior advisor at Bell Securities, managing DMA and clearing sales with a particular focus on listed energy derivatives. A former Director at BofAML as Head of APAC F&O Client Solutions and Head of APAC F&O Product Development. Managed regional teams developing APAC clearing and trading solutions across many exchange venues and CCP’s including ASX, BMD, CME, EUREX, FEX, HKEX, JPX, Japannext, KRX, LCH, NSE, SGX, TAIFEX, TFEX, TFX, and TOCOM. Established and managed a client relationship-facing team for proprietary trading and high-frequency firms. Simon has served as a member of the AFMA futures steering committee and the ASX Appeal Tribunal. He has been a regular participant on FIA panels. Earlier in his career, Simon managed regional F&O clearing operations teams at Jardine Fleming and Ord Westpac futures.

Roger Barton

Board Observer

Roger is a highly respected figure in the European futures industry and a leading expert in financial market infrastructure. He has extensive experience engaging with regulators across the UK, US, EU, and Abu Dhabi, providing strategic insights into the evolving regulatory landscape for exchanges and clearinghouses. Roger served for 12 years as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) European and Middle Eastern futures exchanges, CCPs, and trade repositories. He also chaired Risk Committees at both ICE Clear Europe and LCH.Clearnet Ltd playing a key role in strengthening risk governance and regulatory compliance. His deep expertise in clearing, trading, and post-trade infrastructure makes him a valuable contributor to global financial markets.

David Kenmir

Board Observer

David Kenmir is a seasoned financial services leader with extensive experience in regulatory oversight, governance, and risk management. He spent 13 years at PwC as a Partner in the Financial Services Risk & Regulatory Practice, advising firms on conduct, culture, and licensing. He also served on the PwC UK Supervisory Board, chairing the Partner Affairs Committee and overseeing governance in areas such as strategy, performance, culture, ethics, and diversity. Prior to PwC, David spent 20 years at the UK’s financial regulatory bodies, including the FSA (now FCA), where he held senior leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Retail Markets. With a deep understanding of regulatory frameworks and boardroom governance, he now serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Advisor across several financial institutions.

Pierre-Dominique Renard

Strategic Advisor

Pierre-Dominique has 30-years of experience in financial markets, especially in Market Infrastructures such as Euronext, Clearnet SA and LCH SA, the Paris-based CCP of LSEG. Pierre-Dominique was appointed Chief of Staff of LCH SA in 2014 after occupying various positions in the company as Executive Director – Customer, Market & Infrastructure Director and Head of Repo & Exchanges Director. He managed the relationships with upstream (Exchanges and MTFs) and downstream (I-CSDs) partners and market participants. Pierre-Dominique was responsible for implementing major European marketplace projects such as EMIR, CCP Recovery & Resolution, Target 2 and Target 2 Securities implementations, MiFiD 1 & 2 and CSDR reforms. Pierre-Dominique was an active member of many financial market institutions such as EACH (European Association of Clearing Houses), ICMA, ESMA post Trade Working Group, France Post-Marché (ex AFTI), AMAFI (Association Française des Marchés Financiers) and AFEI (Association Française des Entreprises d’Investissement). Pierre-Dominique is currently the Lead Manager of CBDC experiments program at Banque de France. In parallel, he is teaching digital currencies and CCP clearing at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Frederick Towfigh

Chairman Asia Pacific

Over 25 years of Asia-Pacific financial markets experience, Fred currently serves as a strategic advisor to several early-stage fintechs. Fred is a former Operating Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisors and a retired Partner and past President of Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte. He spent over 22 years at Goldman Sachs, holding various roles in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. Fred headed Asia Pacific Prime Brokerage, Futures, Electronic Trading and Synthetic Products before assuming responsibility for the firm’s overall Equities and FICC franchises in Southeast Asia. Fred is a Japan Regional Board Member of Room to Read. He earned a BA from the University of California, Irvine and an MBA from Georgetown University.

James Paradise

Senior Board Advisor

Over thirty years of experience in financial markets at Goldman Sachs. James was previously co-president of Asia Pacific Ex-Japan and head of the Global Markets Division in Asia Pacific. He served as a member of the Firmwide Management Committee, Asia Pacific Management Committee, Global Markets Division OpComm, Asia Pacific Conduct and Operational Risk Committee, Firmwide Enterprise Risk Committee and Global Inclusion and Diversity Committee. He was also co-chair of the Asia Pacific Inclusion and Diversity Committee. James joined Goldman Sachs in 1989 to establish the Japanese equity-linked warrant business. In 1997, he established the European Emerging Markets business. In 2000, James relocated to Asia, where he was responsible for the Prime Brokerage business, Derivatives Sales and Distribution to Hedge Funds. He returned to London in 2004 to head International Prime Services. James became co-head of Global Prime Services in 2008. He was named Managing Director in 2000 and partner in 2004.

Careers

Interns – Technology Team – Hong Kong

GFO-X is seeking Two (2) interns to join our growing Technology Team in Hong Kong. GFO-X is the UK's first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue dedicated to digital asset derivatives. The successful candidates will be joining the Technology Team in Hong Kong and report to the Head of Software Development. The focus will be on developing an institutional grade derivative trading venue that has high throughput, low latency and high availability. Role 1 – QA Intern: QA Responsibilities: Develop and implement a comprehensive quality assurance plan for automated business feature testing on our trading venue. Create and execute test plans, test cases, and test scripts to ensure thorough testing of all software components. Identify and prioritize defects and work with the development and business teams to ensure timely resolution. Collaborate with development and business teams to ensure that new features and enhancements are thoroughly tested before release. Collaborate and coordinate with our third-party test automation firm. Requirements: Penultimate students majoring in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, quantitative subject, or related degree Ability to work in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment Excellent command of spoken and written English Experience with the Python programming language and familiarity with trading systems. C++ experience is a plus. Strong knowledge of software testing methodologies, tools, and processes. Experience with test automation frameworks and tools. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Strong communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment. Role 2 – Valuation Quantitative Intern: Valuation Quantitative Responsibilities : Oversee and contribute to the orderly end-of-day, intraday and semi-real-time valuation of our instruments for our central clearing counterparty and matching engines Monitor the quantitative computations leading to the results, and challenge the market inputs to the model. If necessary, provide manual adjustments to the end-of-day and intraday valuation process in an auditable and reproducible way. Continuously refine the model through teamwork, research, and development Analyse our own and external market data to extract the knowledge needed to refine pricing of liquid and illiquid instruments  Improve our interpolation and fitting routines to maintain a smooth and correct volatility surface Monitor the recording of market data from other exchanges and the computation of indices Contribute to research papers based on our market data and crypto derivatives in general for internal and external stakeholders Requirements: Penultimate students majoring in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, quantitative subject, or related degree Ability to work in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment Excellent command of spoken and written English Exceptional problem-solving skills o Excellent communication skills to handle the smooth cooperation with IT teams, management, risk, compliance, the clearing counterparty and potentially the regulator Strong understanding of futures and options pricing, knowledge of curve fitting techniques and modelling, knowledge of VAR, expected shortfall and SPAN risk models Excellent experience in Python or another scripting language, including knowledge of software engineering best practices. Experience in systems languages (C/C++) and blockchain would be a plus Other quantitative skills, such as data analysis, statistics, and machine learning, are a plus, especially using Python libraries Passion for joining a vibrant crypto-related company with teams split over several continents What we offer: An extremely experienced and highly rated team of senior developers that are driven for success and eager to work with together collaboratively A unique opportunity to build something significant without the constraints of management layers State of the art technology on an exciting new project in an extremely fast-growing sector These roles are to be based at our office in Hong Kong. Application from any region is acceptable, but candidates based in Hong Kong will be given preference. GFO-X is an equal opportunities employer committed to diversity and inclusion. Competitive benefits included. If you are interested in any of our roles, please apply through the link provided in the job posting. Inquiries from agencies should be directed to recruitment@gfo-x.com. Please refrain from sending recruitment inquiries to any other email address or individual within our organization. GFO-X does not guarantee employment or engagement based solely on inquiry. All unsolicited CVs from agencies shall be treated as such and will not be counted as submissions.

Legal & Compliance Associate – London, UK or Abu Dhabi

GFO-X is seeking an experienced Legal & Compliance Associate to join our growing team in either our London or Abu Dhabi office. This role supports the Legal & Compliance function across the business, providing legal research, document drafting, KYC/AML assistance, and regulatory/compliance coordination. You'll work closely with Legal, Compliance, Risk, Operations, and external counsel. This position is ideal for candidates early in their legal or compliance career who want hands on exposure to financial market infrastructure, derivatives, and cross border regulatory frameworks. Role: Legal Assistance Assist in drafting, reviewing, and maintaining legal documents, including: Membership agreements Rulebooks and policies (including Data Protection and GDPR) Client onboarding documentation Commercial contracts and NDAs Board/committee documentation Compliance & KYC/AML Support Assist with day-to-day compliance processes, including: Client onboarding checks KYC / enhanced due diligence AML risk assessments Sanctions Screening and monitoring Compliance policies and procedures including the compliance monitoring programme Liaise with the Compliance, MLRO and CCO teams in the business. Maintain logs, registers, compliance trackers, and audit trails. Regulatory Support Support preparation of regulatory submissions and responses to supervisory queries. Assist with maintaining regulatory records, mapping obligations, and supporting emerging regulatory projects. Monitor developments relevant to digital asset derivatives, market infrastructure, CCP regulation, and FMIs and prepare regulatory updates. Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in law, Regulation and Compliance, or related discipline. 5-7 (3-5 years PQE if legally qualified) years of experience in a legal, regulatory or compliance function (global law firm, exchange, CCP, financial institution, consultancy or regulator). Exposure to financial services, fintech, or market infrastructure is advantageous. Exposure to digital assets work. Strong legal drafting ability and high attention to detail. Understanding of compliance frameworks (KYC/AML) and GDPR/Data Protection obligations. Strong analytical and research skills. Ability to interpret regulatory texts and translate them into practical requirements. Proficiency in AI tools and Microsoft Office suite; experience with document management tools preferred. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to work in a fast-paced, regulated environment and to manage multiple priorities. This role is based in our London or Abu Dhabi offices. Applications from any region are acceptable, but candidates based in these two regions will be given preference.

QA Lead

GFO-X is seeking a QA Lead to join our growing team in Hong Kong. If you are passionate about ensuring the quality and reliability of software systems and have experience with C++ and trading systems, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity. The successful candidate will join the development team, and report to the Head of Software Development. Role Develop and implement a comprehensive quality assurance plan for our trading venue. Create and execute test plans, test cases, and test scripts to ensure thorough testing of all software components. Identify and prioritize defects and work with the development team to ensure timely resolution. Collaborate with development teams to ensure that new features and enhancements are thoroughly tested before release. Develop and maintain testing frameworks and tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of testing processes. Provide leadership and guidance to the development team, ensuring that they know how to perform testing as part of their standard working processes. Monitor and analyze test results, identifying trends and areas for improvement. Work with stakeholders and other teams to ensure that all software components are tested in a timely and efficient manner. Ensure that all testing activities are documented and reported accurately and timely. Requirements Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field. At least 5 years of experience in software quality assurance. Experience with C++ programming language and familiarity with trading systems. Strong knowledge of software testing methodologies, tools, and processes. Experience with test automation frameworks and tools. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Strong communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment. This role is based in our Hong Kong office. Application from any region is acceptable, but candidates based in the Hong Kong will be given preference.

United Kingdom

1/F 36-38 Botolph Lane

London

EC3R 8DE

Hong Kong

21/F LKF29

29 Wyndham Street

Central

Hong Kong

Global Futures and Options Ltd (GFO-X) is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") with firm reference number 945035

Global Futures and Options Ltd is registered in England and Wales under Company Number 13018987