CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

STRUCTURE: Multi-jurisdiction group

HUBS: Johannesburg Sydney Toronto

EXPERIENCE: 10-15 years

REPORTS TO: Group Board

THE OPPORTUNITY

A privately held financial services group operating two interconnected regulated market businesses is seeking a Chief Executive Officer to be based in Cyprus. The group runs a multi-asset Forex and CFD brokerage alongside a crypto spot and derivatives exchange serving retail professional institutional and partner channels across South Africa Australia and Canada.

This role carries full P&L responsibility for both businesses. The board is looking for an operator not a figurehead: someone who can advance and maintain licences across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously build a high-performance executive team from the ground up institutionalise risk and compliance to banking-grade standards deepen liquidity and institutional revenue and deliver a credible path to profitability and strategic exit within 36 months.

THE TWO BUSINESSES

The brokerage operates across FX CFDs indices commodities and equity CFDs. Its trading infrastructure spans a proprietary CFD terminal MetaTrader 5 IRESS Pro for global equities and CQG for futures and options. The business supports retail professional institutional and introducing broker channels with full A-Book and B-Book risk management capability multi-jurisdiction KYC and AML controls and a CRM with five role-based portals.

The exchange operates crypto spot trading perpetual futures copy trading and staking. Core infrastructure includes an advanced matching engine liquidity aggregation Fireblocks custody and Chainalysis KYT for on-chain surveillance. The commercial focus is verified user activity institutional and API participation and tightly controlled treasury and surveillance operations.

Both businesses operate under a shared regulatory and operational framework. The regulatory footprint is at active and application stage across South Africa under the FSCA Australia under ASIC and Canada under IIROC and the CSA.

WHAT THE ROLE REQUIRES

The CEO will own the following across both businesses and all jurisdictions:

Strategy and P&L

Own group strategy across market entry product expansion revenue composition and capital allocation

Manage contribution margin by jurisdiction monitor CAC LTV and payback discipline and cut unproductive spend fast

Drive quarterly business reviews anchored in numbers not narratives

Build institutional and liquidity-driven revenue to 25 to 35 percent of total group revenue within 12 months

Deliver a board-approved financial model showing a measurable path to profitability by jurisdiction and business line

Regulatory Risk and Compliance

Lead all regulatory engagement across FSCA ASIC and Canadian authorities
Chair or directly govern risk and compliance forums covering surveillance sanctions AML KYC and KYT backlog treasury controls and exposure limits

Operationalise A-Book and B-Book governance with real-time exposure monitoring LP routing hedge discipline and full risk attribution

Ensure operating standards align to banking-grade control expectations not startup norms

Activate reliable deposit and withdrawal rails across ZAR AUD and CAD with auditable operational controls

Operations and Technology

Hold teams to live SLAs for uptime latency KYC turnaround withdrawal handling and incident resolution

Deliver 99.95 percent uptime across the terminals and exchange core trading infrastructure

Prevent vapourware launches: marketing claims must match live stable product capability

Drive continuous improvement of research infrastructure data science capability and execution quality

Growth and Distribution

Build a performance-led acquisition engine spanning IBs affiliates KOLs direct paid channels lifecycle CRM and retention programmes

Enforce a six-month payback mindset on marketing spend and eliminate vanity metrics Ensure brand growth never outruns risk controls or customer support readiness

Executive Team Build

Complete the executive team build across CFO CRO/CCO VP Engineering Chief Product Officer CMO General Counsel Head of Institutional and three regional GM roles

Implement KPI-linked compensation and address underperformance early

Build a compliance-first data-driven execution-heavy culture across all hubs

THE CANDIDATE

We are looking for an operator with a real track record running regulated brokerage exchange or multi-asset fintech businesses under serious regulatory frameworks. This is not a role for a functional leader moving into a CEO position for the first time.

Required experience:

10 to 15 years in regulated brokerage exchange or multi-asset fintech with direct P&L responsibility

A demonstrable track record under two or more of FSCA ASIC IIROC/CSA FCA CySEC or MAS Credible operating depth across forex CFDs and crypto spanning both brokerage and exchange models Hands-on understanding of A-Book and B-Book mechanics LP management exposure governance hedge execution and risk attribution

Demonstrated ability to build growth engines without compromising compliance support quality or treasury discipline

Strong board and regulator communication with the credibility to handle auditors and banking counterparties

Preferred background:

South African regulatory and FICA experience ASIC responsible manager exposure and familiarity with Australian conduct expectations

Canadian market-entry and registration experience

Operational exposure to 24/7 global support SRE incident management and payment network relationships across Africa APAC and North America

COMPENSATION

This role is structured for an operator motivated by outcome not base. The package comprises a base salary of up to $150000 a substantial performance bonus tied directly to the 12 to 18 month operational and regulatory milestones and meaningful equity participation linked to the 36-month exit objective. Total compensation is designed to reward delivery not tenure.

HOW TO APPLY

This search is being conducted by Emerald Zebra. All enquiries are handled in strict confidence.

Donna Stephenson Founder and Principal Emerald Zebra

Candidates who do not meet the regulated brokerage or exchange experience requirements outlined above are asked not to apply.

This is a confidential search. The client organisation is not disclosed at this stage. All applications are held in strict confidence by Emerald Zebra.