Foreign exchange post-trade and blockchain technology provider Cobalt has confirmed that Standard Chartered has become the latest institution to invest in the firm.
The investment follows Standard Chartered’s move in February to sign up to Cobalt’s infrastructure, which is based on shared ledger technology, to automate and centralise post-trade processes. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Standard Chartered joined other major industry players in using the network, including Citi, Sucden Financial, Saxo Bank, Deutsche Bank, and XTX Markets. Citi also made a strategic investment in Cobalt in 2016.
“We see Cobalt as being a core part of our FX operating platform, enabling Standard Chartered to reduce risk and costs by automating manual processes across the bank and therefore improving services to our clients,” said Macro COO at Standard Chartered, Gareth James. “This investment shows our confidence in the platform and we look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with Cobalt.”
Cobalt provides foreign exchange post trade infrastructure allowing its participants to cut operational costs and reduce risk and credit by creating a single version of a trade and checking credit in real time. The network also operates in compliance with the FX Global Code of Conduct.
“The past few months have been a tumultuous time for the financial markets with market participants realising quickly that their current infrastructures were not fit for the new normal,” said CEO at Cobalt, Darren Coote. “During this period Cobalt’s solutions have continued to allow our network to operate at ease as well as reducing their all-important operating costs.”