A working group, led by Axoni and participation from leading banks including Citi, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan, have successfully completed a blockchain pilot to manage equity swap transactions and related post-trade lifecycle events.
Other participants included Credit Suisse, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, IHS Markit, ISDA, Capco, and Thomson Reuters.
This marked the second phase of peer-to-peer blockchain infrastructure for equity swaps processing. Last October, the working group successfully tested a smart contract prototype for managing affirmations and post-trade lifecycle processing for OTC (over-the-counter) equity swaps.
Building on the initial proof of concept, the latest multi-month pilot expanded the blockchain network to process equity swap lifecycle events, end-to-end. It was executed on AxCore, Axoni’s distributed ledger software.
"Equity swap data is infamously complex and difficult to manage, making it a terrific fit for distributed ledger technology. We're delighted to have reached another key milestone alongside our partners on this project and grateful for their collaborative efforts to demonstrate how powerful this tech can be," said Greg Schvey, CEO of Axoni.
The project tested automated lifecycle management and synchronization of single stock and portfolio total return swaps, as well as critical components regarding the deployment and management of the distributed ledger network. Key functionality tested included trade creation, position building, amendments, novation, termination, swap aging, stock splits and dividends, reporting, and private key management. A 100% success rate across all tests was achieved, the official release stated.
In addition, non-functional tests were also conducted to assess the robustness of Axoni’s blockchain infrastructure. These tests covered privacy, security, network health monitoring, node management, and network performance – with real-world throughput volumes successfully processed by the network.
The project participants also joined forces on a “governance framework” that can be used to oversee and manage a production network.
