Provable Markets has promoted its head of strategy and sales Halima Butt to chief operating officer as the New York-based securities finance fintech prepares to launch its first trading platform later this year.

Butt, who joined Provable Markets in August last year from Euronext, was promoted to COO this month, reporting to provable chief executive officer Matthew Cohen.

Cohen said: “As Provable Markets embarks on the next phase of our journey to redefine trust in the financial markets, the appointment of Halima to this role lays the groundwork for continued execution of that vision.

“Her expertise as an operator, strategist, and most importantly, leader in the industry puts us on a clear path to success. I could not be more proud to have someone of her caliber on the team and stepping into this role,” said Cohen.

Butt’s appointment comes at a crucial time for the securities finance fintech as the Securities and Exchange Commission regulated Alternative Trading System (ATS) prepares to go live in the second quarter, providing customers with access to the DTCC’s Securities Finance Transaction (SFT) clearing service for equities lending and borrowing.

Butt joined Provable Markets in August last year from Euronext where she was for two years the exchange group’s head of platform sales for North America.

Before that, she held various jobs at Euronext’s Amsterdam office, rising over four years to become Euronext’s co-head of financial derivatives.

Previously, Butt worked for two and-a-half years in equity derivatives sales for French bank Societe Generale and in sales and product development for six years at ABN Amro, the Dutch bank.

Provable Markets hired in November former chief marketing officer at BNY Mellon Caroline O’Connell to its advisory board.

The firm secured in early November US regulatory approval to launch its alternative trading system from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the US regulator of brokers.

Provable Markets emerged in July 2021 as an Approved Submitter for the proposed SFT Clearing Service being developed by US post-trade giant the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.

Cohen detailed in October the Provable Markets business model which aims to deploy state-of-the-art technology to enable to allow securities borrowers, lenders, and synthetic traders to trade more effectively.