BNY Rolls Out Blockchain-Based Transfer Agency Business
Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) is taking a significant step towards blockchain-based financial infrastructure by moving fund ownership records onchain.
The New York-based institution will launch a blockchain-based version of its transfer agency business, which manages fund ownership records and investor transactions. The Financial Times reported that BNY's chief product and innovation officer, Carolyn Weinberg, said the move is about 'modernizing a function that sits behind every single fund transaction by bringing the books and records on-chain.'
The transfer agent services cover roughly $8.6 trillion in assets across 7.6 million accounts, with Baillie Gifford among early users for tokenized funds. The Edinburgh-based asset manager plans to use the platform for what it described as the first 'fully native' United Kingdom-regulated tokenized fund.
BlackRock and BNY Dreyfus money market fund and cash management business are also expected to use the service for upcoming tokenized funds, with BNY maintaining its traditional transfer agency operations alongside the new digital platform. According to Baillie Gifford's head of digital assets, Theo Golden, 'What we have in the blockchain is a shared source of record-keeping between the participants.'