Australian securities register Computershare has announced a partnership with UK-based blockchain developer SETL. The announcement was made at today’s Computershare investor briefing. According to a report

At the investor briefing, Computershare CEO Stuart Irving dismissed fears that blockchain technology will make firms like Computershare obsolete in the long run, calling the speculative assertions “ill-informed” statements that are being made by “competing vested interests”.

Instead, Irving said that Computershare is placed in a very lucrative position to take advantage of the new opportunities the technology will bring:

“Computershare is not an intermediary in the traditional sense. Computershare is an agent for a critical end-user segment of the market – an enviable position in a blockchain environment. We see real-life commercial opportunities given Computershare’s unique positioning.”

Thursday’s investor briefing also showcased a demonstration of the new register platform, which Computershare claims will unite various industry participants under one open standard. However, Computershare’s investor presentation stressed the fact that only a single entity could act as trusted “issuer agent” on the new blockchain-based register:

“Only one trusted party can logically act as the gateway [or node] for the issuer for the purposes of maintaining issued share capital, otherwise the system will lack the integrity it needs on a distributed basis.”

Additionally, Computershare sees a new securities trading model emerging as a result of distribute ledgers, where the functions of clearing and settlement are eliminated, and traders are directly connected to the securities register.

According to research by SETL, blockchain-based system may cut about $80 billion in post-trade fees from the securities trading industry.

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