Calastone has announced plans to migrate its entire global network of more than 1,700 financial organisations to blockchain in May 2019.
The landmark move represents one the biggest shifts to distributed-ledger technology (DLT) in the securities services industry to date.
Calestone’s CEO, Julien Hammerson, said the move will transform the way in which funds are traded.
The platform will digitalise trading, settlement and distribution of funds with intentions of reducing costs and providing greater speed, transparency and return on capital.
The global fund transaction network said it will create an ecosystem within which the trading, settlement and servicing of funds is “friction free” and “eliminating ever-growing risk and costs for fund managers and investors.”
Calastone believes that the overall global cost of fund distribution could be reduced by as much as £3.4 billion, achieved through the technological mutualisation of the trading and settlement processes.
“By bringing all trading relationships together, within our shared blockchain-enabled infrastructure, all participants benefit through the real-time view of each record and powerfully, from a data perspective, a single version of the truth,” said Campbell Brierley, Calastone’s chief innovation officer.
“Instantly this alleviates common friction points that exist today, including areas such as reconciliation and settlement, which are resolved automatically with all transactions being performed in the same environment. By making friction-free trading accessible to all parties in the value chain, we are creating an environment that marks an inflection point for the future of the funds sector, optimised to meet the needs of customers and investors now and in the long-term.”