In other news, Solidus Labs taps another regulator, OpenFin adds an executive & Deutsche Bank mourns the loss of Anshu Jain.
DLT System Settles 100,000 Transactions Per Day
The DTCC’s alternative settlement platform based on blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT), Project Ion, has achieved a new threshold — it’s parallel processing more than 100,000 bilateral equity transactions daily and almost 160,000 transactions on peak days via the DTCC subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company (DTC).
“The goal of Project Ion is to ultimately provide a resilient, secure and scalable alternative settlement service to clients, with the option to leverage DLT for those firms who wish to take advantage of the emerging technology,” according to the official DTCC statement. DTCC is working with enterprise technology provider R3 and using R3’s Corda DLT software.
“Digitized assets and emerging technology like DLT are shaping and evolving the financial services landscape, and we remain committed to advancing innovative solutions that capitalize on opportunities, deliver new value and drive the industry forward,” says Murray Pozmanter, managing director, president of DTCC Clearing Agency Services and head of global business operations, in a prepared statement.
In particular, Project Ion is “being built to support a netted T+0 settlement cycle, as well as T+2, T+1 and extended settlement cycles,” according to the DTCC.
Project Ion offers “a parallel book and infrastructure for limited bilateral transactions, with DTC’s existing systems remaining the authoritative source of transactions,” says Michele Hillery, general manager of equity clearing and DTC settlement service at DTCC, in a statement. Firms are at different levels of maturity around DLT adoption. “Those who are ready to leverage the Project Ion platform can begin development efforts today while others can continue to use our classic solutions,” Hillery adds.
The DTCC is working closely with its clients on a phased expansion of the Project Ion platform and it will be enhanced according to client and industry needs, officials say. “Future enhancements may include additional DTC activities and capabilities as well as the expansion of Project Ion to DTCC subsidiary National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) to take advantage of NSCC’s central counterparty (CCP) trade guarantee for every cleared transaction.”
The DTCC developed the private, permissioned DLT platform in collaboration with Apex Clearing Corp., Barclays, BNY Mellon, Charles Schwab Corp., Citadel Securities, Citi, Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC, Fidelity Investments, Fnality International, Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley & Co, Raymond James Financial Inc., Robinhood Securities LLC, State Street Corporation, and Virtu Financial Inc., officials say.
Ex-CFTC Commissioner Stump Joins Solidus Labs
Dawn Stump, a former CFTC commissioner, has joined a crypto- market integrity and risk monitoring vendor, Solidus Labs, as a strategic advisor on regulatory matters, officials say. Stump served as commissioner under two presidential administrations.
Solidus Labs has also hired other former regulators such as former CFTC Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo, former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, former LabCFTC Director Daniel Gorfine, and former Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Innovation and Licensing leader Clara Chiu, officials say.
In her new role, Stump will “support the firm’s regulatory engagement and policy development strategy, as Solidus continues to deliver cutting-edge digital asset trade surveillance and risk monitoring technology and lead the crypto and DeFi industry towards higher market integrity standards,” officials say.
“During her time as commissioner, she sought to educate investors about the crypto regulatory landscape, including publishing, in August 2021, an impactful primer clarifying the CFTC’s existing mandate and its implications for regulation and enforcement of digital assets,” according to Solidus Labs. “Stump also initiated agency-wide data protection measures to ensure uniform data intake and provide swift responses to potential threats to cyber security.”
Before her role as commissioner, Stump served a senior vice president of the Futures Industry Association (FIA) and during this time acted as the executive director of the FIA’s Americas advisory board, officials say.
“Crypto continues to drive the evolution of financial regulation and Dawn demonstrated a deft ability to address this new frontier during her time with the CFTC,” says Asaf Meir, CEO and co-founder of Solidus Labs, in a statement.
Solidus Labs offers trade surveillance, transaction monitoring, and threat intelligence solutions.
OpenFin Taps TP ICAP for New Chief Digital Officer
OpenFin, an enterprise operating system provider for financial services firms, reports the appointment of Vicky Sanders as chief digital officer.
Sanders most recently served as the chief commercial officer for TP ICAP Group’s agency execution division “where she was responsible for overseeing the commercial strategy of the Liquidnet and Coex Partners businesses,” officials say.
OpenFin calls Sanders a “highly successful entrepreneur and experienced industry operative, will drive digital transformation across the company’s ecosystem of buy-side and sell-side institutions, along with the global vendor community.”
The Sanders appointment will “unlock opportunities for its community of users, accelerate collaboration and further enable interoperability for the benefit of all industry participants,” officials say. The appointment “follows the recent announcement that ING Ventures invested $10 million into OpenFin to accelerate the expansion of OpenFin OS throughout the financial industry.”
Sanders noted that “OpenFin’s ecosystem has grown to include 23 of the 25 global banks, leading asset managers, and large and innovative software vendors.”
OpenFin spotlights its use by “90 percent of global financial institutions, OpenFin deploys more than 3,500 desktop applications to more than 3,800 buy-side and sell-side firms. OpenFin investors include Bain Capital Ventures, Barclays, CME Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, HSBC, ING Ventures, J.P. Morgan, NYCA Partners, Pivot Investment Partners, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, among others. The company is based in New York with an office in London and presence in Hong Kong and Singapore.” — L.Ch
Former Deutsche Bank Co-CEO Dies at 59
Deutsche Bank reports that Anshu Jain, its former co-chief executive officer, has passed away at the age of 59 “after a long, serious illness.”
“Jain played a crucial role in the development of Deutsche Bank and was instrumental in building the company’s global capital markets business. He was appointed to Deutsche Bank’s management board in 2009 and was responsible for the corporate and investment bank division from 2010,” according to the firm’s statement. “From 2012 to 2015, he was co-CEO.”
Alexander Wynaendts, chairman of the bank’s supervisory board, paid tribute to these achievements. “Anshu Jain played a defining role in expanding Deutsche Bank’s position in our global business with companies and institutional investors. Today, this is of strategic importance not just for Deutsche Bank, but for Europe as a financial center[.]”
In addition to “his contributions to the bank, Jain supported animal welfare projects in his native India and in South Africa,” the statement also notes.
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