Archax, the London-based institutional digital securities exchange, today announced a partnership with R3, the enterprise blockchain software firm. Under this partnership, Archax will use R3’s Corda Enterprise platform to handle post-trade activities on a distributed ledger.

Archax, is focused on providing an exchange for institutions and professional investors to trade in all types of digital securities globally. Its application to operate a multilateral trading facility (MTF) in London is currently being considered by the FCA. Archax will use R3’s Corda technology to build its post-trade infrastructure to reduce friction in the post-trade process.

R3 works with a broad range of participants across multiple industries, from both the private and public sectors, to build their applications on Corda and Corda Enterprise. Corda Enterprise harnesses the core elements of Corda so that businesses can get up and running quickly and efficiently and has been designed specifically for highly regulated environments with exacting requirements around quality of service and network infrastructure. Under this partnership, Archax will use a private version of Corda Enterprise within its own ecosystem to handle post-trade activities.

Graham Rodford, CEO of Archax, comments: “Our existing systems and partnerships with firms like Aquis, provide the core functionality for our exchange. R3, with its Corda product, provides the final piece of the puzzle on which we can build a truly revolutionary post-trade solution. Although Archax is blockchain agnostic for digital security issuances, we needed an institutional-grade system for our own post-trade use. R3’s permissioned blockchain solution is already used by leading blue-chip organisations so fits the bill perfectly. This partnership will deliver the blockchain efficiency gains for financial markets that are so often talked about, and we believe will be the first of its kind.”

Cathy Minter, CRO of R3, adds: “Working alongside the world’s leading financial institutions, R3 made a conscious decision to leverage blockchain technology to solve real business problems in both complex and highly regulated markets. Representing assets as tokens on a blockchain platform is one of the most impactful applications of the technology and a key focus for R3, too. Archax, with its experienced team and base in London, is building one of the most credible venues for these tokens and will play a key role in driving institutional adoption. As such, our Corda Enterprise platform is ideally-suited for this project, and we look forward to working together to disrupt and revolutionise how financial markets operate.”

“The current post-trade process in traditional financial markets is hugely inefficient, with many intermediaries involved. This partnership between R3 and Archax will enable us to revolutionise the current post-trade space, removing friction and streamlining activities to improve efficiency and reduce cost.”, concludes Rodford.