Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange Turns to Blockchain for New Lending Platform

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) is teaming up with Accenture and The Floor, an Israeli fintech hub, to build a blockchain securities lending (BSL) platform aimed to allow direct lending of all financial instruments.

The BSL will act as a "one-stop-shop for all securities lending activities, permitting access to larger securities volumes within shorter time-frames, even operating in shorter-term positions," a press release states.

With the use of distributed ledger technology from blockchain consortium Hyperledger, the platform is designed to reduce costs, increase security and provide more flexible lending activities. More specifically, the project is built on top of Hyperledger's Sawtooth platform, with hardware-based Software Guard Extensions security provided by Intel.

Blockchain, the firms say, improves data privacy for users of the system, and enables peer-to-peer transactions, smart contract functionality and the security of an immutable ledger.

Ittai Ben-Zeev, CEO of TASE, said:

For its role in the project, Accenture will work on the platform's smart contracts development, as well as offering other services to support the BSL platform, including project management, systems integration, cybersecurity consulting, and others.

"We are very pleased to provide our expertise and capabilities in blockchain, capital markets and fintech ecosystems in order to facilitate this exceptional collaboration," said Jacob Benadiba, managing director of Israel Accenture. "This project will help TASE create an innovative end-to-end solution that addresses their business, security and technological needs under an extremely powerful new paradigm."

TASE image via Shutterstock