Blockchain may be creating the most buzz in financial services circles today but it has been quietly making a noise in Europe for the past 20 years. London-based consultancy Z/Yen created one of the first prototypes — a decentralized electronic ledger — for a client who wanted a shared database to provide an indelible and… Read More >>
Firms Have Tough Decisions Ahead of Them: ISITC
(Editor’s note: Jeffrey Zoller, chairman of The International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC), an industry trade group focused on standards, speaks to FTF News about some of the difficult choices coming for financial services firms. ISITC’s 22nd Annual Industry Forum & Vendor Show is underway in Boston this week. In addition to his… Read More >>
ICAP Division Dives into Blockchain
The Post Trade Risk and Information (PTRI) division of interdealer broker ICAP reports that a recent proof of technology test for a blockchain-based distributed ledger for smart contracts is just the beginning for the firm’s exploration of the cutting-edge technology, say ICAP officials. The test conducted on February 26 involved 16 ICAP staff members, ICAP… Read More >>
R3 Enlists 40 Banks in Fixed Income Blockchain Trial
The R3 distributed-ledger consortium, also known as R3Cev, has completed what it calls a successful trial of “five distinct blockchain technologies in parallel in the first test of its kind.” The trial “represented the trading of fixed income assets between 40 of the world’s largest banks across the blockchains, using multiple cloud technology providers within… Read More >>
Cybersecurity, Blockchain to Dominate in 2016: ISITC
Securities firms are gearing up for cybersecurity and Blockchain projects while hoping the T+2 shorter settlement push will not cause them a major overhaul of operations, according to the latest survey from the International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC), an industry trade group focused on standards. Yet despite juggling new and incumbent technologies… Read More >>
Mizuho and Cognizant Launch ‘Record-Keeping’ Blockchain Project
Cognizant, a Teaneck, N.J.-based provider of information technology, consulting, and business-process outsourcing services, reports a strategic agreement with Mizuho Financial Group, based in Japan, to develop a “blockchain solution for secure record-keeping of documents among Mizuho Financial Group companies around the world.” Under the agreement, Cognizant will “design and develop a blockchain solution for Mizuho’s… Read More >>
Japanese Exchanges to Work with IBM Japan on Blockchain Project
Officials of the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) and IBM Japan recently announced that they are jointly developing proof of concept (PoC) tests for the Blockchain distributed ledger technology. This effort marks another major project for the financial services industry, which has been rapidly exploring how Blockchain can be applied to a variety of securities operations…. Read More >>
Broadridge, Accenture and PwC Join Forces with Digital Asset
Blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings has signed non-exclusive strategic business relationships with IT consultancy Accenture, financial technology vendor Broadridge and auditor and professional services provider PwC to hasten the progress of Digital Asset’s distributed ledger solutions to come, which will target financial services firms. Digital Asset has already been working with Accenture, Broadridge and PwC,… Read More >>
Nasdaq to Test Blockchain via Tallinn Exchange
The Republic of Estonia’s year-old e-residency platform will be “facilitating a blockchain-based e-voting service to allow shareholders of companies listed on Nasdaq’s Tallinn Stock Exchange, Estonia’s only regulated securities market, to vote in shareholder meetings,” Nasdaq reports. Blockchain technology supports distributed ledger databases and traces its history to the emergence of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Estonia’s… Read More >>
Goldman Sachs, IBM Give Their Blessings to Digital Assets
Startup Digital Asset Holdings has hit a milestone amid the frenzy for Blockchain funding as the pioneer of distributed ledger technology for financial services firms reports that it has the financial endorsement of IT giant IBM and Wall Street powerhouse, the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., raising the total for its recent funding round to more… Read More >>
