The initiative aims to provide a solution that will significantly reshape the U.K.’s asset transfer market and create a new digital industry standard.

Coinfirm and the SEI Wealth PlatformSM will work closely together to create a proposition that harnesses blockchain digital ledger technology to significantly improve this historically costly and inefficient area of the market. The goal is to create a new asset transfer industry benchmark against which others competing in the space can be evaluated in terms of efficiency, costs, and security.

The initiative is part of a global push by SEI to utilise the full power and potential of blockchain and other leading-edge technologies for the benefit of the company’s clients around the world. Following an initial development period, SEI and Coinfirm intend to embark on a pilot programme with one of SEI’s existing U.K. clients before rolling out the offering to other clients and the wider market in 2018.

Brett Williams, Managing Director, SEI Wealth Platform, U.K. Private Banking, said:

“While there is a lot of talk across the industry about blockchain’s potential, this new initiative is a tangible example of how its power can be used to provide practical innovation to the industry. This solution could potentially transform the asset transfer market in the U.K -- significantly improving efficiency, service, and control, while simultaneously reducing costs and risk.”

“The asset transfer market is widely regarded as one of the most expensive and error-prone parts of the asset management value chain, with much of it still involving a great deal of manual procedures. The work we are doing with Coinfirm will help redefine asset transfers processing, with a view to setting a new standard by which all U.K. wealth and asset managers can evaluate their own systems and processes.”

Pawel Kuskowski, CEO and Co-Founder, Coinfirm, added:

“What Coinfirm and SEI are doing together through our blockchain solution is not only a legitimate, living example of how this technology is helping solve core problems, but also setting a new standard for the industry as a whole. SEI has really placed itself at the forefront with this initiative, and we are happy to add a company of this calibre to the growing list of financial players with which we work.”

Globally known for their blockchain Regtech solutions, Coinfirm has garnered partners and clients across blockchain and financial industries, ranging from major cryptocurrency players to large financial institutions. Coinfirm was also one of the first participants in SEI’s regulation technology incubator, Codify, which launched earlier this year.