Broadridge Financial Solutions has acquired a US patent to develop a blockchain technology solution for proxy voting and repo agreements.
The confirmation from the US Patent and Trademark Office follows the recent pilot testing of Broadridge’s repo blockchain service that involved Natixis and Societe Generale.
It will also help Broadridge expand its proxy voting solutions, where the post-trade tech provider agreed to collaborate with JP Morgan, Northern Trust and Santander to use blockchain technology to enhance global proxy vote transparency and analytics.
“Through the invention of technology-based solutions, we aim to increase efficiency in the market and provide real business value for our clients that enables them to get ahead of today’s challenges and to capitalise on tomorrow’s opportunities,” said Tim Gokey, president and chief operating officer, Broadridge.
Proxy voting and corporate actions have been touted as the perfect starting point for applying blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) to the post-trade industry.
Other market infrastructures including Nasdaq and TMX Group, as well as custody banks BNP Paribas Securities Services and HSBC Securities Services have announced initiatives around proxy voting and corporate actions.