About James Davies
Founder of DCN, with experience as an executive, non-executive director, chair and adviser.
I have spent more than 25 years working across financial technology, trading, payments and market infrastructure. My roles have combined commercial responsibility with product development, technical architecture and the practical work of building and running businesses.
Today, my primary focus is DCN. Alongside that work, I consider selected consulting, advisory and non-executive opportunities where I can make a useful contribution and sustain the commitment required.
Commercial and operating experience
At Trayport, I led Sales & Marketing during a period of substantial growth, working across international markets and customers in trading and financial infrastructure.
As Managing Director of Coindirect, later rebranded as BVNK, I helped scale the business and develop its product and operating capabilities. I subsequently served as a non-executive director.
At Tacans, I worked as Group Chief Product Officer and a director, overseeing product development across a portfolio of digital-asset businesses and a substantial engineering organisation.
Earlier roles at Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC and related trading-technology businesses gave me experience of the relationship between market structure, customer needs and the systems that support trading.
Board and advisory experience
I co-founded London Derivatives Exchange and served as Group COO and subsequently non-executive chairman. My board experience also includes Coindirect and CRP Technologies.
My advisory work with ICDX has covered technology, risk and operating priorities. That combination of board and operating experience helps me ask questions across the business: whether the strategy is credible, whether the team can deliver it, and whether the risks are understood.
I approach formal non-executive appointments as continuing governance commitments. Consulting projects and retained advice are scoped separately around the decisions and support required.
How I work
I start with the decision that needs to be made. I examine the commercial assumptions, the product and technology, and the ability of the organisation to execute. My aim is to give boards and management a clear view of the options, the evidence and the next steps.
I hold a BSc in Physics (Honours) from the University of Southampton.
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James Davies