Cobalt DL targets FX post-trade processing with distributed ledger technology

The fast-moving and competitive world of post-trade blockchains sees a new entrant in the form of Cobalt DL, a distributed ledger technology platform looking to slash costs in the world of FX trade processing. Cobalt DL was co-founded by Andy Coyne, the former CEO of Traiana, which is also working on post-trade blockchain designs with ICAP.

The platform completed a proof-of-concept involving a well known bank, and has begun beta testing with a number of big FX participants.

Cobalt DL will launch in 2017 with eight leading institutional FX players already committed to the service, said a release.

Cobalt DL is looking to free up back and middle office resources that are currently overwhelmed by the need for continuous reconciliation across multiple systems. From a single transaction, existing post-trade infrastructure creates multiple trade records for buyer, seller, broker, clearer and third parties. FX market participants incur multiple unnecessary licence fees, ticketing charges, IT overheads and staff costs as a result of the complexity of existing structures.

Global financial technology specialist First Derivatives has invested and partnered with Cobalt DL, providing services to further develop the technology. Cobalt DL will license First Derivatives' Kx technology, a market-leading big data solution, as a core part of its platform.

Coyne, co-founder of Cobalt DL, said: "The emergence of agile, sophisticated technology such as distributed ledgers has set the scene for an alternative to the inflexible post-trade infrastructure that financial market participants are forced to use today. Cobalt DL's combination of market expertise and forward-thinking technology is dramatically shaking up the post-trade space and significantly reducing costs for market participants."