BNY Bank has officially announced the launch of a digital transfer agency services platform based on blockchain technology. This solution is designed to maintain registers of owners of tokenized investment funds in a distributed registry and is a key element of the Wall Street infrastructure modernization strategy. According to Carolyn Weinberg, Director of Products and Innovation, the initiative is designed to transform the basic functions of financial markets by transferring accounting books to the blockchain, which will provide a single source of reliable information about property rights and significantly simplify administrative processes.

Currently, the bank's traditional transfer agency business handles about $8.6 trillion in assets in 7.6 million accounts, while the total assets under management and custody exceed $59 trillion. The first user of the new platform will be Baillie Gifford, a British investment company, which plans to use it to launch the UK's first fully native tokenized fund under local regulation. In addition, BlackRock Corporation and the Dreyfus liquidity management division, which is part of BNY, intend to implement a similar infrastructure.

Industry representatives, including Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, emphasize that blockchain eliminates the need for resource-intensive data reconciliation between different systems by maintaining a single registry in real time. Nevertheless, BNY recognizes that the traditional financial infrastructure will function in parallel with new blockchain solutions for many years. The introduction of this technology also involves new operational risks, including potential vulnerabilities of smart contracts and interconnects, which requires careful monitoring and gradual adaptation of the market.

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The material has been prepared solely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice or recommendation.