Goal is to provide common network for financial services apps
A proof-of-concept for a new blockchain-powered apps market backed by CLS Bank and IBM is nearing completion. If the tests of LedgerConnect continues to go well, developers say, they anticipate the platform will launch by the third quarter of 2019, and possibly sooner. Nine financial institutions, including Barclays and Citi, are participating in the proof-of-concept now under way.
A number of vendors arealso taking part, including Baton Systems, Calypso Technology, OpenRisk, and Synswap.
“At this point, we’re in the late stages of testing. Some of the banks have completed or gone through the late stages already,” said Ram Komarraju, managing director, technology for CLS, in London.
The new platform is designed to make it easier for banks, buy-side firms and software vendors to deploy, share, and consume financial service apps and data on a common distributed ledger network. CLS and IBM are aiming to provide an “agnostic platform” that will allow a variety of app vendors to connect with banks and other financial services over standardized APIs, Komarraju explained.
Services available on the platform will include know-your-customer processes, collateral management, derivatives post-trade processing, portfolio reconciliation, and market data.
