SETL, the institutional payment and settlement infrastructure based on blockchain technology has announced today, the launch of its blockchain-powered OpenCSD platform.

The OpenCSD platform enables any market participant to commission and run a permissioned registry service for payments, settlement and clearing of cash and other financial instruments. It is SETL’s first commercial offering and is available today and powered by the SETL blockchain technology.

The press release in SETL blog said that platform has been designed to be compatible with existing and forthcoming regulations such as the European CSDR. It also said that, the platform is not specific to any particular regulatory model and, as such, is jurisdictionally agnostic.

Talking about the platform, the CEO of SETL Peter Randall said that, “The time has come to stop talking about the characteristics of blockchain and to start realizing its promise. Our OpenCSD platform will revolutionize the way securities depositories and payments systems are organized.” He added further saying, “A group of participants can now permission a working blockchain platform in a matter of minutes and jointly record and settle changes in ownership. This will help bring competition into a segment of financial markets which has thus far been dominated by quasi-monopolistic incumbents.”

The platform will enable interaction of different participants, including custodians, registrars and payment institutions. The OpenCSD platform, on top of the SETL blockchain engine, builds an organizational functionality. This functionality has four main components viz. a permissioned membership structure; a range of control functions including clearing, settlement and corporate actions; liquidity functionality including collateral and repo facilities; and a secure messaging system.

The CEO said that, “The OpenCSD platform heralds a new era of interoperability, efficiency and flexibility for issuers and asset owners alike, to collaborate and establish their own settlement destinations. It is a means for market participants to empower themselves and to design services around their own needs and cost expectations.”

The platform works across securities, private equity or as a platform for FX or e-money since it is asset neutral. The assets held on one instance of the platform can be transferred to other instances provided both parties agree to it.

The OpenCSD platform can be deployed by a single institution to maintain registers for their own customers. It is accessible throughout a secure user interface and is available on a subscription basis. For the first phase, it will take only few subscribers.