Rabobank has executed a series of real-time euro commercial paper transactions in a blockchain pilot the lender says demonstrates the technology's potential to provide borrowers and asset managers with real-time liquidity.
The Dutch bank executed 19 transactions, more than €40 million in notional, one-week maturity euro commercial papers in EUR and GBP in a fixed and floating format, from the Dutch State Treasury Agency and Rabobank Treasury in the Netherlands and Erste Bank in Austria to UK-based asset manager Northern Trust Asset Management.
The transactions were executed, distributed and settled in under 30 minutes, as opposed to the standard two business days, providing close to real-time liquidity to Northern Trust Asset Management.
The trade economics and settlement instructions were confirmed and matched in real-time using a private-permissioned ledger-based platform built by Rabobank and integrated into operational flows and legacy front-to-back risk systems.
The securities were instantly issued in and settled against fiat cash on Euroclear Bank’s infrastructure and harmonized with the issuing and paying agent on their infrastructure, and soon the electronic trading venue of Tradeweb.
Regulators also had dedicated access to the blockchain, which allowed them to trace and track the pilot transactions in real-time.
Youssef el Mir, global head, trading, Rabobank, says: "We believe the digitisation of money markets can enhance liquidity and transparency at a critical time for the asset management industry.
"Our 2021 pilot was all about proof of concept. These latest transactions, and the solution we’ve worked collaboratively to deliver, prove that blockchain technology can be smoothly and seamlessly integrated in financial institutions’ legacy systems with the right approach."