Kim OrquiolaBorsa Italiana, part of London Stock Exchange Group, has announced partnership with IBM in an effort to digitize securities certificate data for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.
“Through our work with IBM on this blockchain solution, Borsa Italiana is taking the lead in transforming the way European SMEs can manage their shareholder data and at the same time expand credit access – all on a trusted digital platform,” said Raffaele Jerusalmi, CEO, Borsa Italiana.
According to Borsa Italiana, the solution aims to simplify issuance and management of shareholding information, and create a shared registry of shareholder transaction records to open up new opportunities for trading and investing. It will result in providing a highly digitised, streamlined and transparent process build by using blockchain technology to allow several parties, including from issuers, regulators and investors, to gain insight into company information.
Further, the new blockchain solution is claimed to help SMEs in gaining improved access to credit and link into a broader and more mature investor ecosystem.
“Sharing secure and transparent critical network data across shareholder networks is difficult using traditional system,” said Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM Blockchain. “Blockchain is poised to help remove some of these barriers in traditional methods for the transfer of value – much as the Internet did for the exchange of information in the late 1990s.”
The solution will be built on Hyperledger Fabric version 1.0, an open source platform for distributed ledger solutions, which is hosted by the Linux Foundation, the release said. It utilizes high levels of encryption, and will integrate with LSEG’s existing systems, promoting efficiency and business continuity.