Blockchain development company Hashstacs (STACS), announced that it has completed the blockchain proof-of-concept (POC) with Malaysia’s national stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia, to facilitate the growth of the bond marketplace at the Labuan Financial Exchange (LFX).

The POC was executed and tested together with Bursa Malaysia, alongside the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC), China Construction Bank Corporation Labuan Branch (CCB Labuan), CIMB Investment Bank (CIMB) and Maybank.

Together with CCB Labuan, CIMB and Maybank, the POC simulated several bond issuances which were all issued and managed on the STACS Blockchain.

The POC focused on building awareness of technology potentials and exploration of new service offerings. Using the Trident Blockchain-based platform developed by STACS, bond templates were mirrored onto smart contracts for rapid deployment, while operational workflows were streamlined to increase efficiency and flexibility in settlement cycles.

Bursa Malaysia had revealed plans for the blockchain-powered bonds marketplace with STACS dubbed “Project Harbour” in July this year.

According to STACS, the creation of a blockchain powered infrastructure will provide a single source of information that is kept in a shared distributed database between Bursa Malaysia and participating banks. This provides a registry of ownership and reducing counterparty risks and reconciliation costs.

Mr Benjamin Soh, Managing Director of STACS said,

“Given our experience in capital markets technology, we are delighted to work with Bursa Malaysia, a national stock exchange with innovation at its core, demonstrating its commitment and leadership to the advancement of new technology through this partnership.

 

Together, we were able to bring together the collective effort of multiple industry practitioners, forward thinking regulators and technologically advanced partners to explore utilities for the industry.”

Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said,

“We are happy with the completion of the initial stage of the POC. The partnership with STACS, industry participants and regulators demonstrated that block chain technology can deliver increased efficiencies, transparency and trust that can benefit the bond market. These are key values that ensure we remain responsible for our efforts to develop a vibrant and attractive marketplace”.

Through the project, various opportunities were sighted, such as the creation of an industry platform to offer an end-to-end platform for issuance, trading, settlement and depository of bonds, so as to fulfill the needs of the industry.

With the first milestone completed, future phases look towards further collaboration, co-development, and implementation of new technology to expand the Malaysian capital markets.

Featured image edited from Wikimedia Commons