Northern Trust has joined forces with technology giant IBM for the commercial deployment of blockchain technology for the private equity market.
The two companies have developed a blockchain solution based on the open source Linux Foundation Hyperledger Fabric.
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The technology is currently being used to manage the administration of a private equity fund run by Swiss asset manager Unigestion.
The blockchain solution, the companies said, will offer investors and fund managers more transparency and will facilitate compliance with existing regulations.
The companies added that blockchain will allow the fund to transfer ownership stakes and to be managed, serviced and audited throughout the investment lifecycle on a single platform.
Bridget Van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Industry Platforms, said: “Based on the Hyperledger Fabric and secured by IBM Blockchain’s high security business network, IBM collaborated with Northern Trust to build a powerful new enterprise solution using blockchain for the private equity industry.”
Northern Trust global head of market advocacy and research Justin Chapman said: “Northern Trust anticipates substantial opportunities to bring improvements to the private equity market by using blockchain technology.
“This is an important first step to connecting participants much more effectively, including investors, managers, administrators, regulators, advisors and auditors.”
