Post-Trade Distributed Ledger Group Grows to 37 Members

The Post-Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group, an initiative launched last year by banks, clearing houses and exchanges, has taken steps to formalize its operations and make clear its memberships and organization.

Announced today, the PTDL Group now has 37 financial institutions as members, with its organization committee being composed of CME Group, Euroclear, HSBC, the London Stock Exchange and UniCredit. Although the full list of members was not revealed, LCH.Clearnet, Société Générale and UBS are among others that have been said to be participating.

Also revealed is that Ernst & Young will serve as a consultancy to PTDL Group members, while Norton Rose Fulbright will provide legal and regulatory guidance.

In statements, Sandra Ro, executive director and digitization lead at CME Group, said the goal is to determine how distributed ledger technology could best benefit the post-trade industry.

Still, Ro cautioned that expectations for the group’s work should not escalate too quickly, following the announcement, stating:

"The potential impact of blockchain and distributed ledger technology on the post-trade industry is huge, and as with all pioneering developments, there is great excitement but also uncertainty."

The comments echoed remarks delivered yesterday as part of a post-trade panel held at Consensus 2016, CoinDesk’s ongoing three-day conference in New York.

Trade image via Shutterstock