Blockchain provider targeting Eurozone expansion with Paris opening

Financial blockchain provider SETL has set up an office in Paris as part of its on-going Eurozone activities.

The move is designed to bring blockchain infrastructure into the French markets and Eurozone area as well as increase the group’s capacity to deal with regulatory or other changes in EU financial markets.

As part of the opening, Pierre Davoust, formerly deputy head of the financial markets unit at the French Treasury, will take over as CEO, France at SETL.

“Paris is a large financial centre, with a particularly strong asset management community so it is a logical step for SETL to develop a local presence in Paris as we aim to put end-users of financial markets, such as issuers and investors, at the centre of our strategy,” said Davoust.

“France has a rich technological and regulatory ecosystem, with a high-level IT and cryptography community, and ongoing reforms in the field of securities law, which is a very well-suited environment for the development of a best-in-class blockchain infrastructure.”

Having initially launched in July 2015, SETL aims to deploy a multi-asset, multi-currency institutional payment and settlement infrastructure based on blockchain technology.

The SETL system also aims to enable market participants to move cash and assets directly between each other, facilitating the immediate and final settlement of market transactions

“Having put sterling on to the blockchain, this latest development demonstrates that SETL wants to bring the benefit of its infrastructure to the Eurozone,” said Peter Randall, CEO of SETL.