SIX Securities Services, which provides post-trade market infrastructure to Switzerland’s financial market, is planning to employ blockchain.
The firm has hired blockchain specialist Digital Asset to work on a distributed ledger system for securities processing in the Swiss market, with an initial focus on securities lifecycle processing.
Digital Asset, which is run by former JP Morgan executive Blythe Masters, will design a solution using distributed, encrypted, and straight-through processing tools into existing securities transaction flows.
The firm will also develop a product roadmap and demonstrate how current, segregated processes could be streamlined for SIX and the wider post-trade sphere.
A spokesperson said Digital Asset would be collaborating with the US Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and Australian Securities Exchange, which owns a stake in the blockchain start-up.
SIX Securities Services has already begun exploring distributed ledger technologies, and will display a prototype for corporate actions at Sibos in Geneva next week.
Thomas Zeeb, division chief executive at SIX Securities Services, said distributed ledger technology and its potential role in post-trading is key to the business.
“We need to understand it, and more importantly, its applicability and future flexibility in order to keep ahead of the game,” he said.
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