AirCarbon Exchange (ACX) is expanding its MENA hub with three senior hires and the addition of four key tech developers in Abu Dhabi, as its growth accelerates. ACX is partnering with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to create the world’s first fully-regulated carbon trading exchange and carbon clearing house.

Ingo Kleinschmidt has been appointed Chief Financial Officer; Tim Alltimes has joined as Chief Compliance Officer and Ashwin Ambudkar is the new Head of Market Supervision. They join at a key stage of growth for ACX, which is launching the world’s first fully-regulated carbon exchange, based in Abu Dhabi.

“We are at a critical time in the formation of global carbon markets,” said Kevin B. Iwanaga, ACX COO for the MENA Region. “ACX continues to execute on its strategic growth plans as a leading force in scaling global carbon and environmental markets.”

Ingo Kleinschmidt brings over 15 years of experience in strategic business planning & governance, having held senior finance roles at a number of international corporations, including ABN Amro.

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Tim Alltimes, a senior regulatory compliance expert specialised in commodity derivative and digital asset exchanges, previously held senior positions with financial regulators in both Abu Dhabi and the United Kingdom. He also has extensive experience in commodities trading with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers.

Ashwin Ambudkar, with a remit to monitor all transactions and trades, brings over 13 years of expertise in compliance and exchanges, having worked with Credit Suisse, Citi Corp, Nomura and the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The new additions will further accelerate ACX’s expansion, following its recently-announced collaboration with AGDM and partnerships with CarbonX, Bolsa Verde Rio, Tembici, BlockC and Deutsche Börse.

“As the world’s first fully digital carbon exchange, ACX remains an innovative market leader and continues to break new ground,” said Iwanaga. “ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) is set to become the first financial regulator in the world to develop a framework to recognize and support carbon as an investment grade commodity financial asset.”

“The proposed new ‘Emissions Instrument’ will pave the way for corporates and investors to trade and finance carbon credits like conventional financial assets on balance sheet,” Iwanaga explained.

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With technology innovation key to its core strategy, ACX is also strengthening its global tech team based out of Abu Dhabi. It has recently hired 4 senior full stack and blockchain developers and a Vice President of engineering in order to accelerate its efforts as a leading innovator in environmental product development.

“ACX’s market-leading technology is a direct result of our investment in technical talent as well as our internal processes, which are centred around continuous improvement, education, collaboration and learning,” said ACX CTO Dominic Morris. “We are able to deliver world-class technical solutions entirely because of the calibre of our team, and their professionalism,” he continued. “I am deeply proud of our people and what we have achieved to-date and look forward to continuing to innovate. We welcome the opportunities presented to us by Abu Dhabi and FSRA regulation of our platform.”

Besides Abu Dhabi, ACX has a presence in Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, with other locations to be announced in the coming months.