Today the Deutsche Börse Group, previously a minority shareholder in fund distribution platform FundsDLT, has bought the company. FundsDLT was founded by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) subsidiary Fundsquare. The transaction is expected to close in late 2023 or early 2024 subject to regulatory approvals.
At the start of the pandemic, FundsDLT secured Series A funding from Deutsche Börse subsidiary Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management and Natixis Asset Manager.
The two asset managers that participated in the Series A as well as UBS Asset Management remain committed as clients.
FundsDLT is a distribution platform that cuts costs by enabling the permissioned sharing of data between the asset manager, distributor and client investor and supports real time cash reconciliation. From a revenue perspective, the ultimate objective is to offer customized funds.
While the shares will belong to the Deutsche Börse corporate venturing subsidiary DB1 ventures, the solution will be part of Clearstream’s fund service offering and integrated with Vestima, its fund processing platform.
Philippe Seyll, CEO of Clearstream Fund Centre, said FundsDLT “enriches distribution capabilities, is streamlining operations and bringing asset managers closer to retail clients through blockchain. We will see measurable benefits for market participants, including faster time to market and cheaper access to funds.”
Deutsche Börse’s expanding blockchain reach
Deutsche Börse has been a mover and shared in many different ways when it comes to blockchain. It backed and plays an integral role in HQLAᵡ, the DLT-based solution for collateral mobility. Clearstream has a digital post trade platform D7 based on DLT which supports both a digital central securities registry and will soon launch a decentralized securities registry.
But it has not limited itself to traditional securities. It paid more than $100 million for a majority stake in digital asset firm Crypto Finance. And it created 360x a joint venture with Commerzbank to create a secondary market for tokenized real estate, music and art. Plus it is an investor in AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), the platform for trading blockchain-based carbon credits.
