Luxembourg (Europe)

BNP Paribas Asset Management has chalked up another blockchain success, using the technology to carry out a full end-to-end fund transaction test. The test, carried out late last year, was made through BNP Paribas Securities Services’ blockchain programme, Fund Link, and FundsDLT, a blockchain-based decentralised platform for fund transaction processing, developed through collaboration between a Luxembourg Stock Exchange subsidiary called Fundsquare, InTech and KPMG Luxembourg.

BNP says that the transaction included each part of the fund trade process, from delivery of the order to the processing of the trade and showed that Fund Link is able to connect with other blockchains, opening the door to a new model of interoperability.

Arnaud Claudon, head, asset managers, BNP Paribas Securities Services, says the test is a "key milestone" for Fund Link.

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The potentially disruptive power of blockchain - a distributed ledger to record all transactions in a format that is checked and authenticated by participants - has been the hottest discussion topic in financial services in recent years. Luxembourg benefits from pioneering private sector blockchain initiatives as well as the country´s efforts to build a national blockchain infrastructure. As the largest investment funds centre in Europe, Luxembourg is taking the driving seat to build a European blockchain infrastructure to ensure the sector can leverage Its full potential.

LUXEMBOURG COMPLETES FIRST LIVE BLOCKCHAIN TRANSACTION

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Natixis Asset Management has announced that investors have successfully purchased shares in its funds through FundsDLT, the Luxembourg blockchain-powered fund distribution platform for fund managers. This is the first real blockchain transaction in the global investment fund industry.

The asset manager, based in Luxembourg and a leading affiliate of Natixis Global Aasset Management, announced its intention to be the first asset management player in the industry to use the FundsDLT platform applying blockchain technology across several of its business lines. For the first time in the fund industry, investors are using a blockchain based platform to purchase real funds’ shares with real cash.
FundsDLT is the result of collaboration between Fundsquare (a subsidiary of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange), InTech (a subsidiary of POST Group) and KPMG Luxembourg. The successful transaction is a significant milestone for Luxembourg’s FinTech environment and its investment fund industry.

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The top prizes at the FinTech Awards Luxembourg, held on 28 June at KPMG’s headquarters in Kirchberg, were awarded to AIFMaps, PayKey (first runner up), and getmeIns (second runner up). The Women in FinTech Award, given irrespectively of the other prizes, went to Blanco Services. The jury additionally decided to give a special mention to CarPay-Diem. The winners were whittled out of a competitive pool of 15 semi-finalists.

From left to right: Nasir Zubairi (CEO of the LHoFT and co-founder of the Fintech Awards Luxembourg), Fintech Startup of the Year 2017 represented by V. Jacob Bernstein (AIFMaps), Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna, Georges Bock (head of tax and co-founder of the Fintech Awards Luxembourg – KPMG Luxembourg).

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel opened the Awards, welcoming the contestants to a country that values entrepreneurship. “In Luxembourg you will find a government working on concrete solutions to push research and innovation into the finance sector,” said Mr Bettel. He added, “Our ecosystem can adapt rapidly to a changing environment and this will always be amongst our strengths.”

The semi-finalists came from as far away as China and Israel, though the bulk were European, including three Luxembourgish startups. They varied in sector, including regulatory technology (“RegTech”), investment management, blockchain, payment, and others.

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FROM POC TO OPERATIONS
Infrachain is non profit organisation created by the emerging blockchain-related industry and supported by the Luxembourg government.

Infrachain closes the gap between the maturing blockchain technologies and the regulatory and legal requirements. In order to achieve this goal, Infrachain creates a supplementary governance model on top of existing technologies allowing blockchain Proof of Concepts to go into operations - now. 
 
Our mission is to:
 
Leapfrog the adoption curve of blockchain by creating a compliant-ready community and permissioned node blockchain infrastructure .
 
Provide disintermediation services to all aspects of the economy (Fintech, Healthcare, Public services, Supply chain management, …).
 
Create a vibrant European community of blockchain professionals driving and shaping the future blockchain industry.

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A Luxembourg-based trust services provider is teaming up with the Blockchain identity startup Cambridge Blockchain to launch a dedicated platform for the European Union.

LuxTrust, which provides digital identity solutions to businesses and government, will develop an entirely separate platform using the Blockchain.

“Working with Cambridge Blockchain allows us to augment the scope of provided identities, including attributes for new sectors and businesses and will enable users to share personal data fully respecting the increasingly stringent European regulatory framework,” CEO Pascal Rogiest said in a press release issued Monday.

Cambridge’s input will see so-called “proof by design” concepts employed to provide various client-oriented services including consent management and compliance.

Coming from the EU heartland, supporters say the platform is even due to “transform” the identity industry.

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For the third consecutive year, ICT startups from all over the world have been invited by Docler Holding and Luxinnovation to participate in the contest “Pitch Your Startup”. Out of a total of 160 applications from 25 different countries, the jury selected 17 ICT startups, based on the criteria of innovation, uniqueness, creativity and growth potential.

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Scientists at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) of the University of Luxembourg have developed an important mathematical algorithm called “Equihash”.

Equihash is a core component for the new cryptocurrency Zcash, which offers more privacy and equality than the famous Bitcoin. Zcash came into operation as an experimental technology for a community-driven digital currency in late 2016.

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Decentralised public blockchain Ethereum will provide “digital signature” on all documents publicly disclosed by issuers; new functionality will enhance security for issuers and transparency of LuxSE’s certification service.

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FUNDCHAIN Initiative: Investigating the potential benefit of Blockchain to the Luxembourg fund industry
Press Release - Luxembourg, October 6, 2016
Scorechain, the Luxembourg-based company has announced today the constitution of an innovative group of 10 key players of the Luxembourg fund industry to explore Blockchain technology’s impact on the asset management industry.

Ten founding members representing major financial institutions including BIL, BNP Paribas, CACEIS, European Fund Administration, HSBC, ING Luxembourg, Pictet, RBC Investor & Treasury Services, Société Générale Bank & Trust, and Professional Services firm PwC Luxembourg have joined forces with Scorechain.

The initiative called Fundchain, began in the summer and explores how Distributed Ledger Technology may help the fund industry improve efficiency and create new business opportunities. For Pierre Gérard, CEO of Scorechain “As any Blockchain initiative the network effect is the main key to success. We aim to move beyond slideware and begin developing prototypes to test their integration within existing infrastructures. We have already identified several use cases in the fund distribution and asset servicing industry that could be interesting topics.”

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The first edition of the “Blockchain Bootcamp” will take place on 15-16 April, 2016 in Luxembourg. The event is organized by Luxembourg School of Business and hosted by Arendt & Medernach. This 2-day event will consist of two parts. The first day will open with a morning conference during which a panel of experts will discuss topics relating to the Blockchain technology and its current and potential applications across a variety of industries. Following the conference, participants will engage in a day and a half long workshop, during which they will work in much more details on creating possible prototypes and/or innovative business models related to the Blockchain technology. The participants will be encouraged to think of ways how this technology could help transform their own companies/businesses. -

See more at:

http://www.siliconluxembourg.lu/event/blockchain-bootcamp/

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We’re positively beaming. By becoming associate members of Hyperledger, an open-source collaborative consortium dedicated to enhancing Blockchain technology, we’ve effectively laid a milestone. Indeed, the University of Luxembourg is the first (and only university, yet!) to join this international community of innovators.

“Blockchain continues to gain traction with its potential to impact global businesses by increasing efficiency and solving problems associated with transparency and information sharing,” says Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger. “At Hyperledger, we're seeing this firsthand as more and more diverse organisations across industry sectors like the University of Luxembourg invest their energy and resources in understanding how blockchain technology can strengthen their own business processes."

Hosted at the Linux Foundation, Hyperledger is an open-source, not-for-profit community accelerating the development and adoption of business blockchain technologies. The Hyperledger consortium already includes leading companies such as IBM, Airbus, SAP, Fujitsu, Deutsche Börse, and over 80 additional members.

SnT researchers are a driving force of the FinTech revolution in Luxembourg. And our partnership with Hyperledger hints that we’re onto something. SnT director Björn Ottersten confirms:

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La toute première transaction d’actifs via une blockchain a été réalisée mercredi par Natixis Asset Management. Cette nouvelle technologie, fruit d’une collaboration entre plusieurs acteurs de la Place, devrait profondément impacter le secteur des fonds.

C’est la collaboration de plusieurs acteurs de la Place, à la fois des secteurs financier et technologique, qui a permis cette première. Fundsquare (filiale de la Bourse de Luxembourg), InTech (filiale du groupe Post) et KPMG Luxembourg travaillent en effet depuis plusieurs mois sur la création de la plateforme FundsDLT.

«Nous avons non seulement reproduit les opérations dans la blockchain, mais aussi déplacé des sommes réelles et investi dans un fonds réel», indique dans un communiqué Saïd Fihri, de KPMG Luxembourg, qui a été impliqué dans le projet. «Nous nous rapprochons d’un produit industriel utilisable dans différentes configurations: distributeurs, conseillers financiers indépendants, robo-advisors et direct-to-consumer.»

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L’ABBL et l’Université du Luxembourg lancent un nouveau projet de recherche au bénéfice des acteurs de la place financière.

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Annoncée en novembre dernier par le Premier ministre Xavier Bettel à l’occasion des Luxembourg Internet Days, l’initiative Infrachain, une «task force» dédiée à la blockchain et visant à la mise en place d’une infrastructure de confiance, a pris une dimension toute nouvelle ce mercredi. Le conseil de gouvernement a en effet validé le principe que l’État devienne un membre fondateur de l’asbl qui scellera statutairement cette initiative.

Rien de vraiment étonnant à cela, le projet ayant été porté à l’origine par Digital Lëtzebuerg, le premier memorandum of understanding ayant été signé avec le CTIE, LuxTrust, Telindus, InTech et Lu-Cix.

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The first LuxBlockHackathon will be held on 8th & 9th May 2017 at SnT Luxembourg. Organized by Melufina, a blockchain Think tank created by Radu State (SnT), Evan Schwartz (Ripple) & Frank Roessig (Telindus).

Over 10 teams with 50+ blockchain coders are coming to Luxembourg from San Francisco, Kiev, London, Paris, Lisbon, Rotterdam, Cologne… and will be working with Stellar, Hyperledger, Ethereum, Monero.

The best-of-the-best seek a blockchain solution to a Financial Sector Challenge.

During this 36-hour event, the teams have to build an innovative blockchain-based solution to a challenge affecting the Luxembourg Financial Industry. The hackers will also have the option to work-off secured nodes provided as part of the InfraChain initiative by various players, notably Telindus.

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Un consortium d’acteurs luxembourgeois, rassemblés par Digital Lëtzebuerg, travaille actuellement à la constitution d’une infrastructure pouvant mieux supporter l’adoption de la technologie blockchain. Elle entend notamment répondre à un besoin de confiance accru de la part des acteurs B2B.

D’envergure européenne, Infrachain s’est donné pour objectif d’accélérer l’adoption de services opérationnels décentralisés. Marco Houwen, Project Lead d’Infrachain Initiative, évoque les ambitions du Luxembourg en la matière.

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Prime Minister of Luxembourg and Minister for Culture, Media and Communications, Xavier Bettel made a special announcement on November 23rd: the launch of the Infrachain initiative. The Digital Lëtzebuerg team and the project lead have signed a memorandum of understanding between 5 public and private partners to begin work immediately on a national blockchain infrastructure project.

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Luxtrust et SnapSwap ont signé un important accord pour le développement de l’application mobile Gloneta, qui permet des paiements électroniques sans passer par les banques. La sécurité du nouvel outil en sortira renforcée.

Luxtrust et SnapSwap ont allié leurs compétences dans le domaine des paiements électroniques via la blockchain. Les deux entreprises de pointe ont signé ce jeudi 6 octobre un important partenariat pour combiner leurs forces dans Gloneta, l’application de paiement mobile développée par SnapSwap.

Gloneta met en œuvre la technologie de la blockchain pour permettre des transferts d’argent instantanés directement d’un utilisateur à un autre («peer-to-peer»), sans devoir utiliser une banque comme intermédiaire, à zéro ou très faible coût. 

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In case you haven't heard about it yet, Blockchain is a new and fast evolving technology that is creating fundamental changes in personal finance, business, financial markets and banking worldwide. Its most popular product is the virtual currency “Bitcoin.