[ I N - D E P T H
with replacing or augmenting more
expensive SWIFT messaging.”
Furthermore, there is a likelihood
of continued external costs. “Be-
cause blockchain is based on open
source, it can be less expensive,”
says Monica Summerville, senior
analyst at Tabb Group. “However,
a lack of in-house expertise raises
risks as the entity is more reliant
on its outside providers, whether
these are suppliers or consultants.”
EuroCCP, the European equities
clearing house, is currently looking
at new approaches to solving post-
trade inefficiencies with the use of
DLT. Diana Chan, chief executive
at EuroCCP, says the cost of DLT
is likely to be similar to other tech-
nology integration.
“Our experience is that it is
neither costlier nor cheaper than
any other integration,” she says.
“We have a modern development
environment and blockchain ser-
vices can be integrated in the same
environment that we use for our
regular IT development.”
The company is still in the early
stages of blockchain analysis but,
says Chan, the hype around DLT
has spurred FinTech innovation
and is worth looking at. In future,
she believes that DLT could be
used to solve current post-trade
inefficiencies, such as improving
the collateral transfer process.
“One area in which blockchain
seems promising is voting rights
and annual general meetings—as
it is a well-defined problem with
limited automation today, there is
a potential business case to apply
blockchain to these processes,”
says Chan. “It will be interest-
ing to see how this solution will
evolve. With regards to post-trade
processes the same applies, if there
is a problem to solve and a business
case for it, blockchain might be the
solution.”
|
B L O C K C H A I N ]
Where will blockchain be disruptive first?
INVESTORS
Clearing & Settlement
Cross Border Payments
Mobile Payments
Trust & Custody
43%
25%
16%
16%
INVESTORS SAY
16%
43%
16%
25%
INDUSTRY
Clearing & Settlement 39%
Cross Border Payments 21%
Mobile Payments
32%
Trust & Custody
8%
INDUSTRY THINKS
8%
39%
32%
21%
Clearing & settlement Mobile payments
Cross border payments Trust & custody
Source: Autonomous, “Blockchain - Back-Office Blockbuster”
October, 2016
Issue 56 // TheTradeNews.com // 33