Accenture Reportedly Developing Financial Services Platform To Support Bitcoin And Blockchain Technology

Accenture announced last week that it has agreed to acquire Formicary, a leading provider of consulting and systems integration services for trading platforms in the UK and North America. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The acquisition will further strengthen Accenture’s capabilities in helping banks, asset managers, hedge funds and clearing organisations transform their trading technology platforms, enabling them to quickly and cost-efficiently adapt to market and regulatory change, the press release said.

Formicary, founded in 2000, helps clients maximize the potential and cost-effectiveness of proprietary and packaged software platforms to enhance their competitive advantage and streamline business operations. It specialises in financial trading systems consulting, systems integration and migration, and IT services and software for over-the-counter (OTC) clearing, which includes implementations of industry-leading trading platforms such as Murex, Calypso and Misys Summit.

"Formicary will help us strengthen our trading services capabilities to help financial services firms become more competitive and adaptive to change in continuously evolving markets.” Owen Jelf, global managing director of Accenture’s Capital Markets practice, said in a statement.

Bozhidar Hristov, an analyst who covers Accenture for Technology Business Research, told CRN that this acquisition may become part of a foundation the company is building for a financial services platform that could support Bitcoin and blockchain technology for online retailers. He also added that Accenture recently acquired another financial consultancy and has been "looking into" blockchain technology.

"It is good for Accenture … to have an understanding of the next wave of Bitcoin," the digital-based currency released in 2009, he said, "It could be the next disruption of the financial services industry."

On Wednesday, the company announced that blockchain startup Crowdaura will join 15 other companies in Accenture's 2016 FinTech Innovation Lab London. This marks the second time a blockchain-based startup was invited to join an Innovation Lab. Hong-Kong-based Bitspark was invited to last summer's FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific 2015, CRN reported.

Moreover, Accenture is also a part of the latest initiative led by IBM, the Open Ledger Project, that aims to develop a technology similar to blockchain that can bring new level of automation and transparency to a wide range of services, including stock exchanges and other financial markets.