London Exchange Group Tests Blockchain
Borsa Italiana, owned by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), has teamed with IBM to create a blockchain platform designed for digitally issuing shares of small and medium-sized Italian businesses. The project is currently undergoing an initial test phase with a small group of partners and clients.
Built on IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric version 1.0, the project aims to simplify the way that businesses track and manage shareholding information. The new system will create a distributed shared registry containing a record of all shareholder transactions in a secure, tamper-proof format in order to open up new opportunities for trading and investing.
The blockchain solution is also built to achieve interoperability with LSEG’s existing systems, promoting efficiency and business continuity.
Borsa Italiana will be taking the lead in the project and using it to digitize its own shareholder registry of issued securities while testing the new solution for its management streamlining capabilities. A shared registry of shareholder transactions and records will be held on the blockchain, but only between authorized participants such as issuers, investors, and regulators switching from traditional paper-based trading certificates.
“Through our work with IBM on this blockchain solution, Borsa Italiana is taking the lead in transforming the way European SMEs can manage their shareholder data and at the same time expand credit access – all on a trusted digital platform,” said Borsa Italiana CEO Raffaele Jerusalmi.
“LSEG is testing the use of blockchain technology in a financial business network where data segregation and confidentiality is vital,” said London Stock Exchange Group COO and CIO Chris Corrado. “By working with IBM, a pioneer in building enterprise-class blockchain solutions, we are committed to building, testing, and scaling our capabilities in emerging technologies over time.”
“Sharing secure and transparent critical network data across shareholder networks is difficult using traditional system,” said IBM Blockchain general manager Marie Wieck. “Blockchain is poised to help remove some of these barriers in traditional methods for the transfer of value – much as the Internet did for the exchange of information in the late 1990s.”
