BNP Paribas Securities Services, Euronext and Société Générale are among the members of a seven-strong consortium that has banded together to investigate the development of a post-trade blockchain infrastructure for SMEs in Europe.
With French regulators opening the way for the issuance and circulation of securities using blockchain technology, the group - which also includes Caisse des Dépôts, Euroclear, S2iEM and Paris Europlace - is setting up a company to take advantage.
By combining their money and expertise, the partners hope to harness distributed ledger technology to improve SMEs' access to capital markets, reducing transaction costs and making raising funds easier.
Euronext says that blockchain technology has the potential to significantly enhance and streamline post-trade operations by facilitating securities registration for the European market and allowing fast execution of trades with clearing and settlement in real time at T+0.
"By pooling our strengths in this ground-breaking area, we are focusing on new solutions that will give small and mid-sized companies - key actors for growth in Europe - easier access to the financing they need. With this project, we are securing the means to seize opportunities that blockchain distribution can offer: speed of execution, low cost and security," says a statement.