KPMG UK strengthens crypto and payments team

Consultancy KPMG UK is building out its crypto and payments team as it looks to strengthen its offering to clients in the “disruptive technology” space.

Ian Taylor will lead KPMG UK’s crypto and digital assets team

The professional services firm’s UK arm has appointed Ian Taylor as director, leading the crypto and digital assets team, while Peter Harmston, as a partner, will head up the firm’s payments practice.

Head of financial services for UK and EMA at KPMG, Karim Haji, says the addition of Taylor and Harmston will allow the firm to “offer our clients additional high calibre expertise in these fast evolving and disruptive sectors”.

Taylor has more than 20 years of experience in capital markets and disruptive technologies, having been executive director of UK trade association Crypto UK since January 2020, which represents more than 120 companies in the UK digital asset sector.

Prior to Crypto UK, Taylor led teams within global banks, specialising in FX, fixed income markets and liquidity management.

He will continue to have an advisory role at Crypto UK alongside his new role at KPMG.

Harmston joins KPMG UK from KPMG Australia, where he was head of the financial services transformation team. In Australia, he spent 11 years leading the implementation of faster payments architecture across the Australian banking sector.