SETL, the institutional payment and settlement blockchain infrastructure startup , today launched of its new OpenCSD platform. The firm's first commercial offering, the platform enables any market participant to commission and run a permissioned registry service for Payments , settlement and clearing of cash and other financial instruments. It is designed with existing and forthcoming regulations in mind (such as the European CSDR) but is not specifically tied to any regulatory model.
The SETL platform is said to enable the interaction of different participants, including custodians, registrars and payment institutions. It can be used co-operatively or deployed by a single institution to maintain registers for their own customers. It is also asset neutral and works across securities, private equity or as a platform for FX or e-money.
SETL.io co-founder and CEO Peter Randall
Peter Randall, CEO of SETL, explained: “The time has come to stop talking about the characteristics of Blockchain and to start realising its promise. Our OpenCSD platform will revolutionise the way securities depositories and payments systems are organised. A group of participants can now permission a working blockchain platform in a matter of minutes and jointly record and settle changes in ownership. This will help bring competition into a segment of financial markets which has thus far been dominated by quasi-monopolistic incumbents.
The OpenCSD platform heralds a new era of interoperability, efficiency and flexibility for issuers and asset owners alike, to collaborate and establish their own settlement destinations. It is a means for market participants to empower themselves and to design services around their own needs and cost expectations. We envisage service providers plugging into these projects to provide facilities such as issuer support, payments and valuation. We expect to work with a number of companies in these areas to support these initiatives.”
