Deutsche Börse Takes Control of DLT JV

Deutsche Börse has agreed to acquire the outstanding shares in FundsDLT, a joint venture it launched in early 2020 with the Credit Suisse Asset Management, Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Natixis Investment Managers.

FundsDLT is a decentralised platform for end-to-end fund distribution and processing using, as the name suggests, distributed ledger technology (DLT). The exchange group says the last three years have “successfully demonstrated the advantages of a blockchain-based distribution model for investment funds in several locations across Europe and Asia”.

It adds, the takeover, after which Credit Suisse Asset Management and Natixis Investment Management will remain as clients, will enable the technology to move to a more industrial scale, complementing and strengthening Clearstream’s current fund processing and distribution offering. “The integration will drive existing live blockchain-based end-to-end fund transactions, backed by Clearstream’s fund processing platform Vestima, allowing more efficient, scalable and faster fund investing for all market participants,” Deutsche Börse says.

“The acquisition of FundsDLT is a critical and natural step in our digital strategy. It demonstrates our position at the forefront of innovation and will redefine the overall distribution chain of the fund business,” says Philippe Seyll, CEO of Clearstream Fund Centre. “It enriches distribution capabilities, is streamlining operations and bringing asset managers closer to retail clients through blockchain. We will see measurable benefits for market participants, including faster time to market and cheaper access to funds.”

Olivier Portenseigne, CEO of FundsDLT, adds, “Our goal is to enable fund distributors and asset managers, thanks to blockchain and fund tokenisation, to simplify their business and operating model and roll out the technology foundation to enable their clients to connect to fund products anywhere, in an easier and in a more cost-effective manner.”