Major Banks, Startups Advance Blockchain Syndicated Loan Pilot

A group of banks and financial firms led by Credit Suisse recently completed the second phase of a blockchain proof-of-concept focused on syndicated loans.

The system was developed Synaps, a joint venture backed by blockchain startup Symbiont and Ipreo, a fintech firm co-owned by Goldman Sachs and private equity giant Blackstone.

The demonstration drew a variety of finance firm as participants, including Barclays, BBVA, Danske Bank, LSTA, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scotiabank, Societe Generale, State Street Corporation, TenDelta LLC, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. Buy-side companies AllianceBernstein, Eaton Vance Management, KKR, and Oak Hill Advisors took part in the trial as well. Distributed ledger startup R3's research outfit managed the test.

The effort, first announced in September, will continue with further refinement of the tech developed by Ipreo. Emmanuel Aidoo, who leads Credit Suisse's blockchain efforts, said that the bank intends to keep working closely on the initiative.

He said in a statement:

"Over the coming months we will work with Symbiont and Ipreo to implement the remaining functions to allow for distributed ledger technology to support a syndicated loan facility from origination to payoff, and work toward market adoption. The technical and market expertise that the project participants brought to the table means this solution will be tailor-made for use in live transactions."

Work on applying blockchain to the syndicated loan market – in which multiple lenders pool capital for single borrowers – has been pursued by other financial institutions as well. Last year, Japan-based Mizuho and Microsoft began work on a syndicated loan project.

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