Irish Investment Group Concludes Blockchain Recording Trial

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An Irish investment group has successfully completed a blockchain recording project, which aims to streamline the reporting requirements of regulatory submissions.

Irish Funds, a trade group representing Irish investment firms, announced it had successfully completed trials with the technology, which it is hoping could reduce reporting costs and timeframes.

The trial, which was conducted under the watch of Deloitte’s blockchain development lab in Dublin, took in contributions from other industry partners including Northern Trust, Deutsche Bank, State Street and Metzler.

The technology runs on the ethereum platform, as well as the InterPlanetary File System, and allows inputted data to be recorded, analysed, sorted and presented into workable financial statements.

The system will be used to comply with reporting requirements, specifically Money Market & Investment Funds returns submissions, at present a time-consuming and costly process.

According to the findings of the trial, Irish Funds has highlighted the increased efficiency and streamlined reporting processes the so-called ‘RegChain’ platform could allow.

Pat Lardner, the CEO of Irish Funds, said that the move was a first, tentative step with a technology that could deliver dramatic changes to the way financial services companies track and report relevant data.

“The successful completion of this project is an important first step in demonstrating the power of blockchain for regulatory reporting and industry collaboration around innovation. This foundation will enable additional development and progress to be made with other key stakeholders and confirms Ireland’s place a leading location for FinTech globally.”

The move follows similar steps by the Bank of Ireland, who have already piloted their own blockchain based solution for overseeing individual trading activities in Ireland.

By reducing the costs and timeframes for recording and reporting compliance information, banks and financial services companies are amongst those set to benefit the most from wider adoption of the blockchain.

Beyond finance, the technology could have a significant role to play in a number of other industries and functions, including logistics, agriculture, international development and central government.