Credit Suisse and ING have completed what they called the “first” live securities lending transaction settled using the blockchain platform. The 25 million euros ($30.48 million) was settled using HQLAx securities lending app on R3’s Corda blockchain platform.
During the transaction, Credit Suisse and ING agreed to transfer legal ownership of Dutch and German government securities on the platform using HQLAX Digital Collateral Records (DCRs) while the underlying securities remained static within unique DCR-linked custody accounts held by Credit Suisse and ING at Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd.
In a traditional settlement of a securities lending transaction, individual underlying securities are transferred between accounts. However, the intent of the operating model for the HQLAX collateral lending application is to achieve a legal title transfer of baskets of securities through the transfer of ownership of the unique DCR-linked accounts themselves, according to Credit Suisse.
“The success of this first live transaction speaks to the potential for blockchain technology to help improve collateral fluidity by creating a more efficient, transparent, and cost effective marketplace for liquidity transfers,” said Romain Dumas, Head of Rates Repo and Collateral Optimization at Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited.
