GENEVA, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Covantis, the
industry initiative that aims to modernize global trade operations,
announced today it has received all required regulatory approvals
and has incorporated as a legal entity in Geneva, Switzerland, as Covantis SA. The
company is co-owned by its founding members: ADM (NYSE: ADM), Bunge
(NYSE: BG), Cargill, COFCO, Louis Dreyfus Company and Glencore
Agriculture.
Covantis also announced its governance structure and executive
appointments. "After a thorough search process, we are very pleased
to appoint Petya Sechanova as the company's CEO," said Stefano
Rettore, an independent advisor to the organization. "Petya brings
a wealth of industry knowledge to Covantis and has been fundamental
in shaping the initiative since its inception in 2018."
Sechanova has more than 20 years of experience in multinational
companies, including 11 years with Cargill, during which she has
served in a series of leadership positions, including, most
recently, trade operations leader. Stefano Rettore will continue in
his role as an independent advisor to the board until June, after
which his successor will be announced.
"We're excited to create Covantis as a company. This paves the
way toward launching the first release of our industry-changing
digital solution, focusing initially on grains and oilseeds
post-trade execution processes," Sechanova said. "In conversations
with stakeholders around the world and up and down the value chain,
we've heard time and again how critical it is for our entire
industry to modernize our outdated global grain trading operations.
Now that we've received regulatory approvals and incorporated
Covantis as a legal entity, we focus on the preparation of the 2020
launch of the new platform."
A Board of Directors consisting of one member from each of the
six co-founders will oversee the company and help to guide its
evolution. The Board will be chaired by one of the Directors and
will rotate annually. The Director appointed by Louis Dreyfus
Company will act as Chair for the first 12 months.
"We're particularly pleased to announce that we are locating the
company in Switzerland," Sechanova
added. "Switzerland is a thriving
technology innovation hub, with access to tremendous talent and
expertise in blockchain solutions. Geneva's central location makes it ideal to
continue our work with stakeholders across our value chain, as we
build our new digital platform for the industry, by the
industry."
Earlier this year, the initiative announced the selection of
ConsenSys, a market-leading Ethereum blockchain technology
company, as the lead technology partner to develop its
transformative set of digital solutions. ConsenSys will leverage
its enterprise-ready blockchain products and services, including,
Codify, PegaSys Orchestrate, Kaleido, and MythX to build the
blockchain network on Ethereum.
Interested parties can learn more about the initiative by
visiting www.covantis.io.
About Covantis
Covantis is a technology company focused on digitizing
international trade. We're committed to making global trade simple,
secure, and efficient, and we aim to bring efficiencies and cost
savings to companies throughout the international supply
chain.
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SOURCE Cargill