CACEIS Joins French Blockchain Post-Trade Pilot
Asset servicing company CACEIS (Credit Agricole’s European depository and transfer agent) has joined an ongoing pilot intended to develop a post-market blockchain infrastructure for the small to medium enterprise (SME) segment in Europe.
The addition of CACEIS makes a total of eight European financial institutions involved in the pilot, including BNP Paribas Securities Services, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Euroclear, Euronext, S2iEM and Société Générale, and Paris Europlace.
The pilot agreement was launched in June, 2016 in anticipation of a new regulatory framework in France providing for the issue and distribution of financial securities using blockchain technology. The objective of this partnership is to improve the access of such companies to capital markets, while facilitating and enhancing the security of post-market operations.
“We are very pleased to participate in this collective innovation process,” said CACEIS CEO Jean-François Abadie. “This promising project combines a wide range of experience and expertise that is appropriate to its ambition to help drive the process of transforming the post-market environment. This is fully in line with the CACEIS strategy of prioritising the development of innovative solutions for its clients.”
Last March, CACEIS and bitcoin exchange Bitstamp announced a service that enables fund promoters to accept bitcoin investments from retail and corporate clients into their investment funds. Fund promoters working with CACEIS as their transfer agent will be eligible to process fund subscriptions and redemptions in bitcoin when the service goes live in the second quarter.
