Insurance broker Lockton Companies announced the formation of special team focused on risk transfer for companies in the evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency industry and their digital assets.

In addition to providing insurance and consulting, Lockton’s Emerging Asset Protection (LEAP) team also promises to provide education and expertise to the market about the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The LEAP team features 35 brokers and attorneys located worldwide, including members based in the U.S., U.K., Asia, Bermuda and Australia. Additionally, the group includes a number of claims attorneys in the U.S. who can help clients as soon as a claim arises.

The team is led by Sarah Downey, who joined Lockton this past April to lead Executive Risk Claims and the LEAP team. Downey came from Marsh, where she served as managing director, U.S. D&O Product Leader and Digital Asset Risk Transfer Leader for Marsh’s FINPRO Practice, based in New York. She also served as a senior claims advocate for complex claims at Marsh. Before joining Marsh in 2014, Downey spent nearly a decade as an associate in the D&O Insurance practice groups of law firms.

“In addition to being core for digital asset centric companies, digital assets are playing an increasingly prominent role in more ‘traditional’ businesses, and there is a growing need for insurance in this space,” said Downey. “The digital asset ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years, creating an even more dire need for insurance in this space.”

The LEAP team aims to work with clients on risk concerns, including crime insurance, specie insurance, director’s and officer’s liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance, and cyber insurance. The team will work with Lockton associates in capital markets, reinsurance, captives, and surety.

Source: Lockton

*This story ran previously in our sister publication Insurance Journal.