A subsidiary of French bank BNP Paribas has announced that it is looking to leverage blockchain tech for a fund distribution platform it is developing.
The project is in collaboration with AXA IM, one of Europe’s largest fund managers, and BNP Paribas Securities Services.
The BNP Paribas Fund Link will look to simplify and streamline the fund distribution process by ‘facilitating the flow of information between fund managers and sellers’.
The system will be underpinned by blockchain and smart contract technology.
The main objective of the platform will be to speed up the onboarding process for both buyers and asset managers. Fund buyers will only have to upload their profile and investor onboarding documents once. This information will then be easily shared with the various management companies on the platform.
The platform will also feature an end-to-end trade execution solution made up of embedded business rules and shared information. It is hoped this will increase control over, and transparency of, the distribution chain.
Joseph Pinto, COO at AXA Investment managers, said:
“Operational efficiency is a key area for us in an increasingly competitive market environment where pressure on fees keeps rising. We believe that the new technologies used by this platform can significantly enhance our fund distribution process and ensure we are well placed to meet the continued regulatory demand for increased transparency.”
Jean Devambez, head of product and client solutions, Asset and fund Services at BNP Paribas Securities Services, said:
“There are so many new and exciting ways technology can enhance the fund distribution process. With this platform we aim to bring many of them together to streamline fund distribution, create efficiencies and ultimately lower client costs.
“a key ambition has been to ensure the new platform helps asset managers meet the demands of new regulations, such as MFID II, which will demand higher levels of transparency around the fund sales process.”
BNP Paribas Securities Services will be looking to open the project to select clients in the coming months.
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