DBS has become the first bank in Asia to conduct an intraday repo transaction on JPMorgan's blockchain network Onyx, using the US bank's JPM Coin digital token to complete instant settlements and maturity of the transactions within hours instead of the current industry norm of one to two working days.
Repurchase agreements or repos are a traditional and well-established method of raising financing, but infrastructural and technical inefficiencies meant the minimum term has usually been one day. In the past, banks around the world had to explore alternative routes for intraday financing requirements.
For the live transaction on Onyx, JPMorgan acted as both triparty agent and collateral token agent.
Andrew Ng, head of treasury and markets at DBS, says: "Through leveraging efficiencies of a blockchain-based solution, we are able to raise USD funding in compressed timeframes which are beneficial to our liquidity needs.”
Scott Lucas, head of markets distributed ledger technology at JPMorgan comments: “Our intraday repo solution helps clients boost operational efficiencies and accelerate settlement times for their repo activities. We are excited to have our first Asia-domiciled client live on the application, as the network continues to grow.”