Introducing Our Leadership

Building a Foundation of Trust and Security

Kentaro Kawabe

Co-founder, CEO

Sho Setoguchi

Co-founder, Chief Investment Officer

Yuya Kuratomi

Co-founder

Simon But

Head of Finance and Accounting

Jason Low

Chief Technology Officer

Tomofumi Okubo

Chief Security Officer

Shelly Harding

Chief Compliance Officer

Atsushi Itaya

Director

Atsushi Itaya

Director
  • Graduated from the Faculty of Science at Tokyo University of Science.
  • Joined Daiwa Securities in 1992. Since April 2021, he serves as the Deputy Head of Planning and IT Operations. As of April 2024, Senior Managing Director (in charge of IT and Operations) at Daiwa Securities Group, and Executive Managing Director of Daiwa Securities.
  • Since 2019, serving as a member of the board of directors of Japan Security Token Offering Association, and since 2021, as an outside director of Osaka Digital Exchange.
  • Since 2021, leading the security token business and digital asset business within the Daiwa Securities Group.
  • Appointed as a Director of our company in March 2024.

Shelly Harding

Chief Compliance Officer
  • Graduated from Murdoch University with double majors in Banking and Finance
  • Shelly possesses an in-depth understanding of digital assets and capital markets, with a particular focus on APAC regulatory landscape. She has worked extensively with global banks, prime brokers, and asset management companies developing comprehensive compliance frameworks and ensuring strict adherence to licensing and regulatory requirements.
  • Her expertise encompasses end-to-end compliance and enterprise risk management framework, including Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), and sanctions regulations. She has played key roles in the design and implementation of compliance programs, focusing on financial crime prevention, enterprise risk management, and regulatory compliance.
  • In her previous role as Chief Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) at a Digital Asset Prime Brokerage, Shelly managed the full spectrum of compliance operations, ensuring the firm’s compliance with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regulations and the implementation of global standards across EMEA, the US, and the UK.

Tomofumi Okubo

Chief Security Officer
  • Graduated from Hosei University with a major in English.
  • His career in cryptographic key management spans nearly two decades, beginning with his work in a joint project between the U.S. Department of Commerce, Verisign, Inc., and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2009. There, he specialized in high-security cryptographic operations, including both offline and online key management, for mission-critical entities such as Certificate Authorities, DNSSEC, and financial institutions.
  • Played a pivotal role in the signing of the DNS Root Zone and later joined ICANN in 2010 as the DNSSEC Trust Anchor Manager and Director of Security for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), where he enhanced the security of IANA functions.
  • In 2022, he joined the Japan Fair Trade Commission’s Economic Affairs Bureau, Office of Policy Planning and Research for Digital Markets as a Digital Analyst, where he provided comprehensive advisory services as a technologist.
  • In 2024, he served as co-chair of the Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) working group at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Jason Low

Chief Technology Officer
  • Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems from the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Notably, he was awarded the prestigious Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (PBM), a Singaporean national honour recognizing his outstanding contributions to the community.
  • Over 20 years of experience leading and driving success in technology and business development. Throughout his career, he has honed his skills at Schroder & CO (Asia), NCS Singapore, and Nodeam, a Singaporean IT management firm acquired by Penguin Securities. Possesses a deep and broad skillset that empowers him to:
    • Design innovative, custom-built portfolio management solutions
    • Develop digital asset trading ecosystems
    • Manage business accounts across finance, wealth management, and government domains
    • Deliver successful projects in these same sectors
  • His expertise extends beyond technical skills and is a trusted advisor who can effectively advocate for and sell key innovations and technological solutions, ensuring they align with the ever-changing needs of today’s dynamic business environment.

Simon But

Head of Finance and Accounting
  • Graduated from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a BBA in Accounting in 2000.
  • With over 20 years of experience, Simon is a highly skilled professional in the financial services industry, with a strong background in fund accounting, global custody operation, process re-engineering and optimization, product development and project management. Prior to joining Penguin Securities, Simon was the senior manager at fund administration at HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Ltd heading the operations of unit trusts, hedge funds and private equity funds. His scopes covered fund valuation with accurate securities pricing and appropriate accounting treatment, financial statements, asset servicing and payment.
  • In addition, he drove operational efficiency across Asean countries. He was also seconded to Taiwan leading a strategic client onboarding project.
  • At Penguin, Simon will closely work with all the key stakeholders to manage the daily operations of the accounting department, establishing and enforcing proper record in accordance with Singapore’s financial reporting standards and its regulatory requirements.

Yuya Kuratomi

Co-founder
  • Dropped out of the political and Economics of Waseda University prior to entrepreneurship. In 2013, founded Cocon Inc. (GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae, Inc.) while a university student.
  • From the start-up phase to later stages of the founded company, dedicated and managed to expand cybersecurity business utilizing M&A as the Founder and CEO.
  • Succeeded to raise fund of USD 52 million in equity – primary investors being JIC VGI of Japan sovereign fund, Z Venture Capital of Softbank group CVC, SOMPO of the leading insurance company in Japan and SBI CVC subsidiary of Japanese financial company etc.​
  • In February 2022, sold founded company for an equity value of approximately US$ 173 million to the GMO Internet Group, Inc.(TSE:9449).
  • Entrepreneurial accomplishments have been recognized, including being listed on Forbes Asia’s Under 30 list.

Sho Setoguchi

Co-founder, Chief Investment Officer
  • Degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics at Tokyo University
  • In 2014, moved to Barclays Bank’s Singapore branch, providing a wide range of forex products and solutions not only to Japanese clients but also to global macro hedge funds, financial institutions, and major global corporations. This trading coverage was extended beyond G10 currencies to include those of Asia, EEMEA, and emerging markets including Latin America.
  • Managed all types of forex trading, including vanilla options of hundreds of billions based on JPY, volatility swaps, forward Vol Agreements, multi-currency options (Dual/Triple Digital, Dual DNT, Cross currency Knock-out, Worst-of), and even more exotic tailor-made financial products.
  • From 2021 to 2023, engaged with Bastion Trading, the Hong Kong-based crypto hedge fund as one of the main asset traders including crypto.
  • In addition, has experience in handling and dealing with crypto assets, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kentaro Kawabe

Co-founder, CEO
  • Graduated from Sophia University (Japan) in 2004 with a B.A. in Economics.
  • After working at Deutsche Bank Tokyo Branch, BofA Securities Japan and JPMorgan Securities Japan, he joined BNP Paribas Securities Japan and led as the Head Electronic and Algorithmic trading services, Head of Cash Equities (Japan) and most recently headed the Market Access Product Sales team in the Global Markets division.
  • With 19 years of experience in securities business, extensively covered/managed the business areas such as Equity execution service, Electronic Trading, Alternative liquidity access, Equity Derivatives trading, ETF/Delta-One trading, Securities financing/repos and Prime Origination Sales in FX.
  • As part of the management role, focused on team management, business development, client relationships, risk control management, vendor/platform integration, internal project management with IT/Compliance/Legal/Operations and engagements with vendor/exchange operators/regulators.