Rabobank's Blockchain CP Pilot
The website Ledger Insights writes, "Rabobank runs blockchain commercial paper pilots with Euroclear, Northern Trust." They tell us, "Rabobank used blockchain to issue €40 million in one-week maturity euro commercial paper across 19 pilot transactions. With rising interest rates, blockchain is coming to the fore to empower shorter settlement times, enabling intraday transactions and hence improving liquidity. The commercial paper, denominated in euros and pounds, was issued by the Dutch State Treasury, Rabobank Treasury and Austria's Erste Bank, with Northern Trust Asset Management as the investor. Rather than taking two days, the issuance, distribution and settlement took under 30 minutes and cost less than the conventional process. Liquidity was enabled on both the primary and secondary markets." Rabobank's Roland van der Vorst, comments, "Blockchain's reputation as a technology with legitimate applications for global financial markets has undoubtedly been shaken by the turmoil surrounding cryptocurrencies. The scale and success of our pilot, delivered in partnership with some of the biggest financial institutions in Europe, will hopefully help to address misconceptions and show the revolutionary impact innovation in this space can truly have." The article adds, "Rabobank developed the platform based on R3's enterprise blockchain Corda, which was also used in pilots last year."
