Blockchain Firm Gets Approval For Central Security Depository
In the latest cryptocurrency news, the U.K.-based settlement infrastructure provider called SETL has finally been granted a license from France’s securities regulator. This approval would allow the firm to legally operate a central securities depository system using blockchain tech.
Issue Release Dates
With the license from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers now in place, according to official reports, the company will be able to plug into TARGET2-Securities (T2S). The latter is basically a pan-European system recently set up to unite the previously fragmented European securities settlement infrastructure.
Approval to join T2S is expected to be issued in the next few weeks, the announcement says. As for the SETL’s securities depository, it is slated for launch early next year.
SETL introduced its settlement solution in October of last year. The firm describes its product as “multi-asset, multi-currency institutional payment and settlements infrastructure based on blockchain technology.”
The system, using a permissioned distributed ledger to log ownership and transaction records, is designed to enable market participants to directly exchange cash and assets, “facilitating the immediate and final settlement of market transactions.”
New CEO
SETL was founded in 2015 and is backed by major institutions including Citi, which bought a stake in the firm in February. Official reports also suggest that the company has received $39 million in funding to date.
Also announced this week, SETL has appointed a new chief executive officer, while its former CEO and co-founder Peter Randall is now president of the firm. In its official blog post, the company announced Philippe Morel as CEO and board member to lead the company.
“Co-founder and former CEO Randall becomes President and will assist Morel with specific responsibility for international business, marketing and investor/public relations,” the blog reads.
SETL was launched in July 2015 to deploy a multi-asset, multi-currency institutional payment and settlements infrastructure based on blockchain technology. The company’s system is designed to enable market participants to move cash and assets directly between each other, facilitating the immediate and final settlement of market transactions.
The SETL system maintains a permissioned distributed ledger of ownership and transaction records, simplifying the process of matching, settlement, custody, registration and transaction reporting.
SETL’s Chairman, Sir David Walker, was quoted as saying:
“We are delighted to welcome Philippe Morel as CEO. He brings a wealth of experience in the capital market, financial, and regulatory spheres and we are very pleased to have attracted such an impressive talent.”