BPX Appoints Charles McManus, Co-founder and former CEO of ClearBank, as Advisor

As financial markets undergo a once-in-a-generation transformation, BPX positions itself at the forefront of regulated digital capital markets infrastructure.

London, April 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BPX, the UK FCA-authorised institutional venue for issuing, trading and lending both traditional and tokenised alternative assets, today announced the appointment of Charles McManus as Advisor.

Charles McManus, Co-founder and former CEO of ClearBank, one of the UK’s first new clearing banks in over 250 years, joins BPX at a pivotal moment for global financial markets. He brings extensive experience in building and scaling regulated financial infrastructure. He continues to work with financial institutions, fintechs and industry bodies in advisory and board roles.

His appointment comes as market structure and infrastructure continue to evolve, driven by advances in blockchain, smart contracts, digital money, programmable payments and AI.

A profound structural shift is underway: traditional finance is evolving toward digitally native, tokenised, and increasingly decentralised models. BPX is leading this transition—working alongside regulators and institutions to build the infrastructure and frameworks required for safe, scalable institutional participation in this new financial ecosystem.

Charles McManus on joining BPX as Advisor:

“Having spent my career at the intersection of banking, fintech and securities markets, BPX represents a compelling convergence of these domains at a pivotal moment for the industry. Financial services are entering a new era, where digital assets, digital money and tokenised infrastructure are redefining how markets and leading players operate.

BPX is addressing this shift through the development of a regulated securities marketplace for traditional and tokenised assets, designed not only to support innovation, settlement and custody, but to enable institutional adoption within a robust regulatory framework. This is critical to unlocking the full potential of tokenisation of securities in global capital markets.

I am excited to support BPX’s mission as its platform evolves alongside regulators and market participants. The transformation of financial markets is underway, and BPX is well positioned to play a leading role in this new ecosystem.”

BPX is building next-generation market infrastructure that goes beyond traditional regulated systems, unlocking a significant commercial opportunity at the intersection of institutional finance and digital innovation.

Ali Celiker, Founder and CEO of BPX, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Charles McManus to BPX as an advisor at such a pivotal moment for capital markets.

Charles brings a rare combination of deep banking expertise, fintech innovation experience, and a proven track record of building and scaling regulated financial institutions from the ground up—experience that is directly aligned with BPX’s mission.

His insight and relationships will be invaluable as we continue to develop BPX as a next-generation market infrastructure, enabling the issuance, settlement, and trading of digital securities within a trusted regulatory framework.

Charles’ perspective, shaped through close collaboration with regulators, institutions, and market participants, strongly aligns with our vision to modernise capital markets through tokenisation. We look forward to working together as we accelerate the transition towards more efficient, transparent, and accessible financial market.”

BPX is progressing the build-out of its digital securities marketplace in close collaboration with regulators, institutional participants and strategic advisors. The appointment of Charles McManus further strengthens this effort, bringing additional expertise in navigating regulatory frameworks and scaling financial market infrastructure.

BPX is among a select group of firms participating in the joint Bank of England and FCA Digital Securities Sandbox, where it is testing and refining its infrastructure to support both traditional and digital assets within a controlled environment. Through this work, and in collaboration with its members, BPX is contributing to the development of next-generation market models and helping define the future architecture of global financial markets.

ENDS

About Us 

BPX is an FCA-authorised securities marketplace with a mission to expand access to, and liquidity in, alternative and digital assets (also known as real-world assets) for issuers, investors and lenders.

Within a single institutional venue, BPX members can utilise fund management services or transact across primary issuance, secondary trading and collateralised lending (repo) markets. BPX is also registered to provide digital custody solutions and is working towards Bank of England authorisation to deliver digital securities settlement with legal settlement finality, which it expects to obtain in 2026.

BPX is permitted to support transactions in equities, debt securities (including government securities) and investment funds in both traditional and digital (tokenised) forms. Its initial product focus, however, is on higher-return alternative assets, including real estate funds, infrastructure funds and private credit.

Built by professionals with deep securities market expertise, BPX’s digital-first architecture connects legacy financial infrastructure with emerging digital rails. This enables institutions to mobilise assets more efficiently, reduce operational friction and adopt digital workflows without replacing existing systems. Aligned with T+1 settlement reforms and digital delivery-versus-payment (DvP) models, BPX is helping to define the next generation of regulated digital market infrastructure.

Learn more: www.bpx.exchange

Notes to Editors

BPX FCA authorisations - https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001Sk000007X1kVIAS

• 27 March 2025 - Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF)
• 27 March 2025 - Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM)
• 29 May 2025 - Cryptoasset Exchange and Custodian Wallet Provider

https://register.fca.org.uk/s/search?predefined=CA

BPX Digital Securities Sandbox authorisation

• 14 Jan 25 - Approved at Gate 1 of the joint Bank of England/FCA Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS).

The DSS was established to support the Government’s objective of digitalising the UK’s financial market infrastructure. It provides a regulated, live environment for exploring the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the issuance, trading and settlement of financial securities.

BPX has submitted its Gate 2 application and is currently progressing through the process with the DSS team. Once approved, BPX will be permitted to conduct Digital Securities Depository activities live with customers.

Target audience: Capital market participants such as ;
Investment, Pension, hedge and mutual funds. sovereign wealth funds, wealth managers, private banks, insurance companies, family offices.

Legal-first, digital-first architecture, establishing standards in digital assets, innovating in cooperation with industry and regulators.

Single connection to fully integrated, hybrid marketplace for:

• Traditional dematerialised and tokenised securities
• Digital twinning (tokenisation) of traditional securities, and digital-native securities
• Exchange workflows for issuance, trading and collateralised lending
• Execution to post-trade (e.g. notary, asset-servicing, settlement)

Interoperability with existing workflows.

Media Contact
Tina Kane
tina.kane@therealizationgroup.com
+44 (0)7887 947329

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