Today Nomura announced an investment in Fnality, the interbank payment and settlement platform that uses blockchain technology and is now backed by 17 major financial institutions.
Fnality, formerly known as the Utility Settlement Coin, tokenizes money deposited at a central bank to enable the settlement of DLT-based transactions with on-chain digital currency. It is expected to launch its first currency, the British Pound, next month as it has been formally recognized as a payments system by HM Treasury. Other planned currencies are euros, U.S. dollars, Japanese Yen and Canadian dollars.
Reiterating that plan today, Fnality CEO Rohomaios Ram said, “We at Fnality are excited to draw on Nomura’s extensive experience in capital markets across Japan, the U.S. and Europe as we expand beyond the UK.” Sources have told Ledger Insights that Fnality is advancing its digital euro work, as also evidenced by an investment from Euroclear earlier this year. And Fnality was a participant in the recent launch of the DTCC’s Project Ion for U.S. securities settlement.
Nomura is the fourth Japanese institution to join Fnality after Mizuho, MUFG and SMBC. Japan is also a country that is one of the most advanced in progressing with security token issuances. As that develops, the need for settlement with cash on ledger in central bank money will become more pressing.
Fnality is currently in the process of raising a £50 million ($54m) Series B funding after raising the same amount in 2019.
“The transformation of financial services powered by blockchain technology is clearly accelerating, and we believe Fnality is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the significant opportunities brought by this evolution,” said Angel Issa, Nomura’s Global Head of Corporate Development and Strategic Investments.
“We look forward to leveraging Fnality’s technology and expertise to continue delivering differentiated value to our clients and partners globally.”
Meanwhile, Nomura has been active in blockchain and the capital markets for years, founding Boostry, which owns a tokenization platform used for bonds and other instruments. Additionally, it recently launched a digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital Holdings, in Switzerland.
The full list of Fnality investors is Banco Santander, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Euroclear, ING, KBC Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Mizuho, MUFG Group, Nasdaq, Nomura, SMBC, State Street and UBS.
