Zodia Custody CEO Julian Sawyer steps down, becomes adviser

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Sawyer told employees on Thursday that the pending acquisition of Zodia’s custody business by Standard Chartered and the establishment of Zodia Solutions created a natural point to hand over day-to-day leadership.

“I believe this is the right point for me to hand over day-to-day leadership while remaining closely involved,” Sawyer said in the Sept. 10 memo.

Richard Clark, Zodia Custody’s chief revenue officer, will lead the business through its transition into Standard Chartered and take responsibility for the custody operation, according to the memo. Current executives Craig Perrin and Anoosh Arevshatian will lead the development of Zodia Solutions. Sawyer said he would work with the leadership team to support an “orderly transition” across both businesses.

A Zodia Custody spokesperson confirmed the move.

Zodia Custody is a London-based institutional digital-asset custodian backed by Standard Chartered and other banks. It provides regulated safekeeping, wallet infrastructure, staking and off-exchange settlement services to financial institutions, asset managers and other institutional clients.

The transition represents a change from plans announced in May, when SC Ventures said Sawyer would become CEO of Zodia Solutions following completion of the acquisition. The new company is intended to provide banks and other financial institutions with technology, infrastructure and professional services for building their own digital-asset operations.

Standard Chartered said in May that Zodia’s shareholders and noteholders had accepted its non-binding offer for the custody business. Under the proposed transaction, Zodia’s regulated custody activities would be absorbed into the bank’s Financing and Securities Services division, while its infrastructure platform would be separated into Zodia Solutions, which would fall under SC Ventures.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Sawyer told CoinDesk in June that the acquisition was expected to be completed by the end of August. That deadline has passed, and neither Standard Chartered nor Zodia has publicly confirmed that the transaction has closed.

The spokesperson said the deal closure remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.