Blockchain consortium R3 is extending its reach in Asia Pacific, signing up AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, as a new member.
AIA will join with over 50 of the world’s largest financial institutions to collaborate on the development of commercial applications for distributed and shared ledger technology.
Simeon Preston, AIA’s group chief operations officer, comments: “Distributed ledger technology or blockchain offers significant opportunities to the life and health insurance industry. R3 provides us the possibility to understand together with other leading global organisations in financial services the potential applications of blockchain technology around the world and particularly in the Asia-Pacific region."
The addition of AIA to the ranks follows the recruitment late last month of Ping An Financial Services as the first Chinese member of the coalition.
David Rutter, CEO of R3, says: “The addition of AIA represents another step in the diversification of our growing member network. By collaborating with a broad range of non-bank institutions in addition to our extensive banking partners we will ensure the technology being developed in our lab represents the different interests and requirements of the vast array of players in the global financial ecosystem.”
R3 is currently in the midst of a $200 million fund-raising initiative as it bids to get its Corda shared ledger platform off the ground with the support of member institutions.