Troubled Vesttoo names new CEO

Crisis-ht insurtech Vesttoo has installed one of its directors as chief executive officer as it battles to recover from the discovery of fake collateral.

Vesttoo, whose Bermuda collateralised insurer was put into liauidation earlier this week, said Ami Barlev would replace CEO and co-founder Yaniv Bertele, who has been on paid leave since soon after the scandal broke.

A raft of other senior executives have also departed along with around 150 employees from the 200-strong company.

Vesttoo’s board of directors said Barlev has extensive experience serving in senior positions such as CEO, director and chairman of the board in a number of private and publicly-traded Israeli and NASDAQ companies, as well as startups, in the fields of technology, AI, communications, aviation and real estate. He specialises in the areas of corporate governance, business development, crisis management, and managing companies in complex situations.

Barlev has been a member of the board at Vesttoo since June 2021. He is also the executive chairman of Gilat Telecom.

Barlev said: “I would like to thank the Board for their confidence in me during this extremely difficult moment - as well as our investors and clients for their patience. I accepted this position because we all strongly believe that Vesttoo’s technological suite and platform remain extremely valuable. The need for both alternative capital in the market and diversified investments is clear and robust.”

He added: “We are working around the clock in order to provide solutions for our customers and partners around the world, and we will work intensively to restore the company's activities. We believe in the value that Vesttoo can still provide. I am confident that by completing the ongoing audit thoroughly and comprehensively we can overcome this significant challenge and get back to work.”

Vesttoo revealed last month that at least two collateralised transactions between insurers and investors had been called into question after investor’s letters of credit turned out to be fraudulent. The scandal has raised doubts about the amount of capacity available for collateralised insurance transactions.