BlackRock to Use Axoni Blockchain for Equity Swaps

BlackRock will join Axoni’s Veris blockchain network to manage equity swap trades, according to a statement by Axoni.

Using Veris, parties can match and confirm trade terms upfront, and match and reconcile post-trade data after a stock swap, Axoni said.
The world’s biggest asset manager is joining Citi and Goldman Sachs, among others, on the network. The two financial juggernauts also invested in New York-based Axoni in its Series A and B, respectively.
BlackRock will initially use Axoni’s software internally by integrating it with its own operating system, Aladdin, the press release said. The asset manager aims to make Veris available to its own clients in the future, according to the statement.
Starting with equity swaps, Axoni will help BlackRock build ”scalability while mitigating risks in the investment life,” said the asset manager’s COO of Global Investment Operations Mark Cox.
BlackRock will significantly improve the Veris network’s efficiency “by driving adoption of standardized post-trade swap data models and workflows,” said Carl Forsberg, head of OTC markets at Axoni.
The market for equity forwards and swaps is close to $3.6 trillion, Bloomberg reported, citing Bank of International Settlements data.

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Eliza Gkritsi

Eliza Gkritsi is CoinDesk's crypto mining reporter based in Asia.

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