Nasdaq to Deliver Blockchain e-Voting Solution to Strate
22 November 2017 - 8:00PM
Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and
Strate (Pty)
Ltd, the South African CSD, announced today an agreement
for Nasdaq to deliver a new blockchain solution that would bring
electronic voting to the South African capital markets. The
solution will allow Strate, in conjunction with key stakeholders in
the market, to provide general meeting services and give
shareholders an easy, user-friendly and secure tool for voting
remotely. The solution is based on the successful proof of concept
(PoC) developed for Nasdaq’s Estonia market. In addition, Strate
will contribute to the ongoing market development of e-Voting
technology.
“We are very excited about our initiative with
Nasdaq and what it means for the South African financial markets,”
said Tanya Knowles, Managing Executive of Fractal Solutions, a
division of Strate (Pty) Ltd. “One needs to understand that the
environment at the moment is very administratively intensive, which
means there are many inefficiencies and risks associated with it.
This is not ideal in today’s electronic age, as technology like
blockchain can serve as a solution. The solution aims to service
our clients’ needs across the market from transfer secretaries to
issuers, custodians, asset managers and those holding shares in
listed companies. Given that it is an end-to-end solution – from
the time a meeting is announced and all the way through the voting
process to the publishing of results – it means that all
stakeholders will truly benefit within the process.”
“A major indicator of progress in the capital
markets is when technology not only bolsters performance, but also
improves efficiency and transparency,” said Lars Ottersgård,
Executive Vice President and Head of Market Technology, Nasdaq. “By
leveraging blockchain, we are able to reduce friction in the voting
and proxy assignment process and also ensure that all information
is transparent to stakeholders when required and with the proper
security, governance and risk procedures in place. We are proud to
welcome Strate and the South African capital markets to the Nasdaq
family and to support their efforts in evolving their governance
processes through new technological innovation.”
Benefits to Shareholders, Issuers and
Proxies:
- Remote participation and proxy assignment;
- Submitting votes before and/or voting during the general
meeting;
- Secure (multifactor) identification of shareholders and their
representatives;
- Information about meetings, agenda items and management
proposals is easily reachable;
- Full track record of assigned proxies (i.e. chain of proxies)
and casted votes;
- Online / real-time access to voting results;
- Data is saved in an immutable ledger;
- Transparency and auditability of voting results for listed
companies; and
- The end-to-end management of general meetings from announcement
to results.
Benefits to CSDs, Exchanges and Market
Infrastructures:
- Reduced complexity through end-to-end general meeting
administration in a single solution – from notification and
material distribution to voting management and reporting at the
general meeting;
- Enhanced insight through real-time data access to securities
holders, holdings and votes and ability to view full voting history
on a single account;
- Safety, security and speed benefits of leveraging blockchain
technology with a fully auditable view of actions recorded in the
immutable ledger; and
- A standard Application Programme Interface.
About StrateAs a South African
Central Securities Depository, Strate is licensed to be an
independent provider of post-trade products and services for the
financial markets. Its pioneering and innovative solutions to
deliver reliable exchange of value settlement systems are built on
an 18-year foundation of trust. Being internationally recognised as
a Financial Market Infrastructure, Strate provides sound risk
management and a world-class service, priding itself on its high
levels of operational excellence to support and promote the safety
and efficiency of the financial markets.
Strate provides electronic settlement of
equities, bonds and money market securities and provides collateral
management services. It offers an asset servicing product range to
augment the services it offers to issuers in terms of the Companies
Act No. 71 of 2008 and the Financial Markets Act No. 19 of
2012.
It also identifying new opportunities by
exploring disruptive technologies.www.strate.co.za
About NasdaqNasdaq
(Nasdaq:NDAQ) is a leading global provider of trading, clearing,
exchange technology, listing, information and public company
services. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq
enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business
vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide
transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital
markets. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock
market, its technology powers more than 90 marketplaces in 50
countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions.
Nasdaq is home to approximately 3,900 total listings with a market
value of approximately $12 trillion. To learn more,
visit: http://business.nasdaq.com
Nasdaq’s market infrastructure technologies,
including trading, real-time risk, index, clearing, CSD and market
surveillance systems are operated in more than 100 marketplaces,
regulators, clearinghouses and central securities depositories
across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle
East and the Caribbean.
For Media Inquiries
NasdaqRyan
Wellsryan.wells@nasdaq.comDirect: +44 (0) 20 3753 2231Mobile:
+44 (0) 7809 596 390
Strate
Leigh Bevis+27 (0)11 759
5466leighb@strate.co.za |
Nicole De Matos+27 (0)11
759 5405nicoled@strate.co.za |
Tanya KnowlesManaging
Executive: Fractal Solutions+27(0) 11 759
5317tanyak@strate.co.za |
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