22 February 2022

Cornerstone FS Plc

("Cornerstone" or "the Company")

Director Appointments

Cornerstone FS Plc (AIM: CSFS), the cloud-based provider of international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services to SMEs, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Bill Newton, Chief Information Officer, and Stephen Flynn, Chief Technology Officer, to its Board of Directors with immediate effect. Both Bill and Stephen will remain in their current operational roles and have become Executive Directors of the Company, with no changes to their remuneration packages.  

Bill has extensive operational experience within financial trading companies having worked in the industry for over 20 years. He co-founded ODL securities, a derivatives, equities and FX brokerage, where he held a number of senior management roles including IT Director. There, he designed various real-time risk and regulatory reporting systems and was responsible for all back-office development. He was subsequently appointed CIO for London Capital Group and managed a reorganisation of its core systems and infrastructure. Bill co-founded FXPress Payment Services Limited, which was acquired by Cornerstone in September 2020.

Stephen's background prior to entering the technology world was in equity derivatives trading and risk management in London, Frankfurt and New York. He was employed by UBS as a senior structured product trader, CSFB as a market maker trading equity and equity index products, and Smith Newcourt as an equity derivative market maker. Stephen joined Cornerstone in October 2020 having previously worked as a consultant to the Company and, along with Bill Newton, was responsible for designing and building the Company's FXPal platform.

Elliott Mannis, Non-Executive Chairman, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Bill and Steve to the Board and look forward to working with them as directors. They both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience based on their current operational roles in Cornerstone and having each worked in the financial services sector for over 20 years. We believe their appointment will benefit our Company as we continue to pursue our strategy of organic and acquisitive growth."

Additional information:

The following information is being disclosed pursuant to Rule 17 and paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies:

William ("Bill") Timothy Milton Newton, aged 60

Mr Newton holds 2,530,787 Ordinary Shares in Cornerstone (including 81,967 held in the name of his wife), which represents 10.74 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company. In March 2021, the Company entered into a facility to borrow up to £350,000 from Mr Newton at any time until 31 December 2023 in consideration of the Company issuing him with 6% unsecured convertible loan notes 2024 ("WN Loan Notes"); this facility remains undrawn. The WN Loan Notes will bear interest at the rate of 6% per annum and will be redeemable on the occurrence of usual events of default and, in any event, on 31 March 2024. The WN Loan Notes may be converted into new Ordinary Shares in tranches of £50,000 at a subscription price of 61 pence per share at any time until a redemption notice is served. 

Mr Newton holds the following directorships:

Stephen Benedict Flynn, aged 56

Mr Flynn holds 2,435,442 Ordinary Shares in Cornerstone, which represents 10.34 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company.

Mr Flynn holds the following directorships:

About Cornerstone FS PLC

Cornerstone FS plc is a payments focused fintech business that makes managing currency simple for SMEs. It provides international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services using a proprietary cloud-based multi-currency payments platform. These services are delivered directly and via white label partners on a SaaS basis to UK-based SMEs that engage in international trade. Cornerstone also serves some high-net worth individual clients.

Headquartered in the City of London and with offices in Tunbridge Wells and Dubai, Cornerstone is listed on AIM under the trading symbol 'CSFS'. For more information, please visit www.cornerstonefs.com.