Standard Chartered Names Karby Leggett as Asia Head of Digital Assets

Standard Chartered appointed Karby Leggett as head of digital assets for Greater China, North Asia, South Asia, and ASEAN, an appointment based in Singapore that merges his existing role as global head of the Official Institutions Group.

Leggett brings two decades of experience spanning journalism, finance, and public sector engagement. He spent nine years as a foreign correspondent covering China's economy and markets, and three years as the Jerusalem bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal before transitioning to finance, where he worked in sovereign credit advisory at Goldman Sachs for three years and held public sector strategy roles at Standard Chartered over the past 16 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The dual appointment signals the bank's effort to capitalize on accelerating adoption of cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies across Asian markets. Leggett's background engaging with governments and multilateral institutions positions him to bridge official sector demand with the bank's digital assets capabilities.

"Karby's extensive experience working with governments, multilaterals and other official sector stakeholders position him to accelerate our Digital Assets strategy, deepen our leadership, and support delivery of innovative solutions for our clients across Asia," Eric Robertsen, global head of research and chief strategist, and Rene Michau, global head of digital assets, said in a joint statement.

The appointment reflects a broader industry trend of traditional financial institutions building dedicated leadership around digital assets as clients seek guidance on how blockchain-based innovations can reshape their business models and market infrastructure.