Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “the Exchange”) and Singapore’s Fintech technology provider, Hashstacs Pte Ltd (“Hashstacs”) has embarked on a bond on blockchain proof-of-concept (“POC”), to facilitate the growth of the bond marketplace at the Labuan Financial Exchange (“LFX”). The project, dubbed Project Harbour aims to explore and harness the opportunities afforded by blockchain technology and the tokenisation of assets.
Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, “ The POC conducted in partnership with Hashstacs presents an opportunity to provide a valuable learning experience to build knowledge and obtain insights that will allow us to grow the bond marketplace. The POC aims to increase operational efficiency, driving down the cost of operations as well as the cost of issuing bonds.
“We will continue to tap into emerging technological innovations to further develop the
marketplace and improve the effectiveness and accessibility of the Exchange”, added
Umar.
Benjamin Soh, Managing Director of Hashstacs, said, “Hashstacs will develop a blockchain
solution to issue, service, trade and clear bonds on the platform. The creation of an
industry-wide ecosystem will allow for a complete solution in the origination, servicing,
trading, clearing and settlement, allowing Malaysia to potentially have the first-mover
advantage in attracting regional and international bond listings.”
Bursa Malaysia, alongside the Securities Commission of Malaysia, Labuan Financial Services
Authority, CIMB Investment Bank Berhad, Maybank Investment Bank Berhad and China
Construction Bank Corporation Labuan Branch, will utilise the Trident Platform built by
Hashstacs to test and manage the end to end trade lifecycle management of tokenised bonds.
The blockchain-based platform will facilitate the issuances of tokenised bonds
seamlessly while providing a single source of truth to maintain the integrity of investors
holdings and track transactions.
In addition, smart contract technology automates the movement of funds and securities, amplifying asset servicing and the provision of liquidity to market participants. This initiative is part of Bursa Malaysia’s focus on technology-driven innovation to deliver its promise of “Creating Opportunities, Growing Value”.
