Topic: [2015-10-23] Nasdaq's Greifeld unveils European blockchain initiative (Read 260 times)

Nasdaq's Greifeld unveils European blockchain initiative

    Nasdaq's Greifeld unveils European blockchain initiative

    Nasdaq chief executive Bob Greifeld has unveiled the US exchange group's next blockchain initiative: using the emerging technology for corporate actions services on one of its European exchanges.

    Delivering a keynote speech at the Financial News Awards for Excellence in Trading and Technology, Europe in London on October 21, Greifeld said the exchange was going to use the technology behind bitcoin to better manage and streamline the proxy voting process.

    Proxy voting is often handled by a listings exchange, and allows shareholders to participate in votes at a company's annual general meeting without attending an AGM - typically online, by mail or by phone. It is generally a time-consuming, manual and paper-based process.

    Speaking to the audience at London's Victoria & Albert Museum last night, Greifeld said of the new plan: “We are going to put that proxy voting on the blockchain, on the immutable ledger and obviously enable people to do this [vote] with their cell phone and have that record with them forever.”

    He said the initiative would be tested on its Nasdaq’s market in Estonia.

    Nasdaq has been one of the frontrunners in the development of systems based on blockchain, an emerging technology that many in the financial industry believe could drastically simplify financial processes ranging from trade finance to clearing and settlement.

    Blockchain allows ownership of assets to be verified by a network of computers across the internet rather than a single, centralised authority. Its potential expands to the transfer not only of bitcoins, as at present, but of other assets such as shares or bonds without the need for clearing houses or settlement.

    In June, Nasdaq partnered with San Francisco-based start-up Chain to implement blockchain infrastructure for the issue and transfer of shares on its Private Market. The exchange group is also looking into the commercial potential for the use of blockchain in settlement and custody, and in back-office efficiency.

    Greifeld said: “What's impressive to me is that by the end of this year for private markets securities we will be able to settle and clear those trades within 10 minutes.” He contrasted this with public markets, where clearing and settlement can take up to three days noting how blockchain “shows you have the ability to really take technology and evolve in a rapid fashion”.

    He said: “If you are in a blockchain-enabled environment, where the element of trust is a fundamental nature of the technology, then you have the ability to leapfrog and do things in 10 minutes.”

    He noted that Nasdaq was choosing implementation use cases for blockchain that represent a “whole cloth change to the environment” but that some developments will require the entire industry “to participate and then obviously it will take longer”.

    His speech revolved around the role played by technology in advancing financial services, an increasingly popular topic among senior industry executives over the past year.

    From marketplaces that connect small companies looking to borrow cash directly from investors, to robo-platforms that create automated investment portfolios, the financial industry has been at the centre of an explosion of technology-led innovations over the past few years.

    Greifeld said: “I certainly believe with the technologies we see, both with our companies and with the capital markets systems, we have a great opportunity to change this world in fundamental ways and I think everybody here in this room has some part to play in that.”


http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2015-10-22/nasdaq-reveals-new-blockchain-project-bob-greifeld