Calastone Launches Blockchain-Based Decentralized Market Infrastructure
Calastone, a leading global transaction network for the mutual fund industry, has launched its blockchain-powered Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI) in a bid to enable digitalization and frictionless trading at a global scale, according to a blog post on May 20, 2019.
Calastone Integrate DLT
As stated in its blog post, Calastone, a firm that operates a transaction network for fund managers, custodians, and fund administrators in the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions, has announced the successful launch of its blockchain-based Distributed Market Infrastructure after more than a year of testing the technology.
With the successful integration of distributed ledger technology (DLT), Calastone firmly believes that revolutionary technology will enable the entire mutual funds’ markets to save more than $4 billion annually.
Trade Execution in Real-Time
Though nascent, blockchain technology has proven in recent times that it’s capable of allowing financial institutions to boost their productivity through its essential properties which include the elimination of unnecessary intermediaries and faster payments processing, to mention a few.
Calastone has hinted that its new DMI will make it possible for both large and small financial services organizations across the globe to have access to a “fully mutualised global funds marketplace” that supports the real-time trading, settlement, and servicing of funds.
This way, the DMI will help financial institutions to cut costs, mitigate risk and operational burdens present in the current traditional model.
A Game Changer?
Commenting on the launch of the DMI, Julien Hammerson, CEO of Calastone reiterated that since the firm began operations in 2008, it has been exploring ways to use innovative technology to significantly slash the cost of trading, foster transparency and increased returns for market participants.
Hammerson said:
“The launch of the DMI today marks a significant step for the entire funds industry, creating a friction-free global marketplace for funds. By leveraging the latest technology we are able to provide the investment management community with the necessary tools they need to control risk and cost while meeting the evolving needs of investors.”
According to the team, the DMI will enable market participants to connect to an automated infrastructure and it also comes with the Sub-Register feature, which provides users with a shared, real-time view and history of all activities between trading partners in the entire distribution chain.
With more than 780 customers in different regions across the globe, including Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan and more, Calastone has joined the growing list of firms adopting DLT, demonstrating once again that the technology has real use cases in the financial ecosystem, as well as several sectors of the economy.
