Securitize Adds Former IMF Envoy Sunil Sabharwal to Board

Securitize has appointed Sunil Sabharwal to its board of directors as the company pursues a Nasdaq listing through a planned merger with Cantor Equity Partners II, Inc.

Sabharwal is an investor and executive who since 2021 has served as an advisor and operating partner at the Blackstone Growth Equity Fund. He was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2016 and served as the U.S. representative to the International Monetary Fund, primarily during President Donald Trump’s first term through 2018. The U.S. Treasury awarded him its Distinguished Service Award for his work at the IMF.

He serves on the boards of cross-border payments platform Thunes and TookiTaki. Earlier in his career he chaired payment companies Earthport and Ogone, which were acquired by Visa and Ingenico, respectively. Sabharwal has also advised early investor SpiceVC, an early backer of Securitize.

Securitize stated that Sabharwal’s combination of public- and private-sector experience will support the company as it expands its tokenization and custody services.

Carlos Domingo, Securitize’s chief executive, described Sabharwal’s career as combining global financial infrastructure experience and added that the appointment will help guide the company’s next phase of growth.

The company announced a definitive acquisition agreement with a Cantor Fitzgerald-sponsored firm in October. The transaction values Securitize at about $1 billion, would have the combined company trade on Nasdaq under the ticker CEPT, and would provide access to roughly $240 million that Cantor Equity Partners II raised in its IPO.

Securitize operates a tokenization platform and custody services and reports managing more than $4 billion in onchain assets. Its tokenized products include the BlackRock BUIDL fund and offerings for institutional managers and alternative asset firms such as Apollo, BNY, Hamilton Lane, KKR and VanEck.

Securitize noted that the board appointment is part of efforts to expand governance and advisory capabilities ahead of the proposed public listing and to deepen ties with financial institutions and asset managers working with digital securities.