Company veteran Preston Hoffman heads up the global team as senior vice president and managing director for the securities channel, reporting to CheckFree Software Executive Vice President and General Manager, Randy McCoy. Paul Thomas joins CheckFree as vice president and sales director for the software business, overseeing sales for CheckFree's securities solutions in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Dan Belluche is appointed vice president of securities sales, responsible for sales and professional services for North America. Hoffman and Thomas are both based in London, with Belluche managing North American client relationships from Jersey City, New Jersey.

"CheckFree's securities solutions enable global firms to streamline operations and improve back office efficiencies," said Randy McCoy, executive vice president and general manager at CheckFree Software. "With these appointments we have created a strong management team with proven leadership abilities, supported by extensive industry knowledge. The combination of this industry experience with CheckFree's best-in-class technology and customer service focus, will help CheckFree drive strong growth in this key global industry."

In his new role, Hoffman, who joined CheckFree in 1994, is responsible for managing all aspects of global sales and delivery of the company's securities software solution suite. Hoffman moves to CheckFree Software from CheckFree's Investment Services division, where most recently he held the role of vice president of the division’s United States West Coast business unit. Hoffman led the development, and was pivotal in the expansion of the unit's client base.

"Securities firms are under constant pressure to cut costs by improving operational efficiency," said Hoffman. "We apply world-class technology to help global securities firms manage transaction processing across the enterprise, both pre and post-settlement, and process corporate actions for those securities."

Thomas joins CheckFree from Surecomp, where he led the global sales and marketing of its trade finance and treasury reconciliation solutions as a member of the company's executive management team. Previously, Thomas served in several capacities with ADP, formerly ADP Wilco, ultimately assuming the role of managing director of sales for Europe and Asia and as an executive member of the board of directors.

Belluche will lead the North American securities sales team. Belluche joined CheckFree in April 2004 from SunGard, where he held senior executive positions in the securities processing division, with responsibility for sales management, revenue growth and key global account management. Belluche also served in management roles at Household Finance, BayBank and Phase 3 Systems throughout his nearly 20-year career.

For global securities firms, CheckFree Software provides open, platform-independent solutions that deliver high-volume, multi-instrument and multi-currency transaction processing technology for post-trade securities processing, corporate actions and operational risk management. The portfolio of products supports messaging standards such as ISO 15022 and ISO 20022, and protocols such as SWIFT and FIX. They also support connectivity to market and payment infrastructures.