A blockchain consortium initiative launched by Japanese financial institutions last year has grown to 26 participating members.

Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.; Osaka Exchange, Inc.; and Japan Securities Clearing Corporation in November 2016 announced a consortium of Japanese financial institutions, which was set up to conduct proof of concept (PoC) testing for blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) in capital market infrastructure.

According to latest announcement, the recruitment of participants commenced at the end of January 2017 and a total of 26 financial institutions and related organizations have registered so far. The participants includes financial institutions (23 companies) and related organizations (3 entities):

Financial institutions: CENTRAL TANSHI CO., LTD.; Daiwa Securities Group Inc.; DSB Co., Ltd.; Japan Securities Depository Center, Incorporated; JAPAN SECURITIES FINANCE CO., LTD.; The Kosei Securities Co., Ltd.; Marusan Securities Co., Ltd.; The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd.; Matsui Securities Co., Ltd.; Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation; Mizuho Bank, Ltd.; Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd.; Monex, Inc.; Nomura Holdings, Inc.; Rakuten Securities, Inc.; SBI SECURITES Co., Ltd.; SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.; Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, Inc.; The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.; The Tokyo Tanshi Co., Ltd.; Ueda Yagi Tanshi Co., Ltd.

Related organization: Bank of Japan; Financial Service Agency; Japan Securities Dealers Association

“We will be launching a community website for registered participants in March. Furthermore, in terms of the actual testing environment, we plan to release the first user application for this series in April”, the release said.