European Banks, Regulator Create Blockchain-Based System for Financial Warrant Issuance

A group comprising European financial entities has formed to create a blockchain-based system that will record the issuance of financial warrants, Cointelegraph reported. A warrant in financial jargon means a security that enables the holder to purchase an underlying stock of the issuing company at a fixed value before it expires.

The association is composed of eight financial institutions. Spain’s securities regulation body, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), is cooperating with major stock market operator BME and six banks in the region.

It is reported that the group has completed a feasible Proof-of-Concept called Fast Track Listing. The platform will govern the issuance of warrants in just 48 hours. Current operations involving this process typically take more than a week to be completed, but because the association has leveraged the speed of transaction that blockchain offers, it managed to significantly reduce that timespan.

CNMV stated that this is but the start of the project and further research will be conducted to transition the system for national and international warrant providers.

Last week, banking consortium Niuron also announced the development of a blockchain-based platform that will provide their clients with digital identification verification. Moreover, the system will also help accelerate the transactions in the banks involved, improving clients' experience with the financial institutions.

Businesses operating in the financial sector are adopting blockchain technology at varying rates. Consulting agency Bain and Company recently released a report saying that distributed ledger technology (DLT) can drastically decrease the cost of trade finance transactions from 50 to 80 percent. The cost reduction stems from the accelerated processing of billing, statement, and payment, with the speed estimated to ramp up by up to three to four times.

Meanwhile, other banks like the Central Bank of Netherlands are still skeptical of blockchain’s capabilities, this after the institution's three-year study on the technology. Its report stated that the technology cannot keep up with the firm’s large number of transactions.