The Depository Trusts and Clearing Corporation has entered the production build phase for a new platform to streamline the issuance, transfer and servicing of private market securities
Set for introduction in early 2022, the 'Digital Securities Management' system builds on a protype, dubbed Project Whitney, that focused on exploring the potential for asset tokenisation and digital infrastructure to support private market securities, from issuance through secondary markets.
DSM will offer access to participants through both central and distributed infrastructure, utilising a cloud-based architecture to enable the book entry recordkeeping of securities as well as support the burgeoning digital asset ecosystem by providing the option to create tokenized representations of a security.
Architected to be blockchain agnostic, DSM will initially interface with the Public Ethereum Network, but will incorporate additional public and private blockchain support based on client and market demand.
Jennifer Peve, MD, head of strategy and business development at DTCC, states: “DSM is capable of transforming the private markets, unifying an increasingly fragmented space under a common infrastructure that can automate manual processes, reduce costs and risks, and open up more opportunities for investors.” s
She says the DSM platform will initially support pre-IPO equity securities, and will expand into other markets, positioning it to take on funds, debt, real estate, loans and other private instruments that are underserved today from a market infrastructure perspective.