EU Blockchain Initiatives supporting financial transparency
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On Wednesday October 2nd 2019, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA) and Deloitte co-hosted the event: “How can technology driven transparency fuel the Capital Markets Union?”.
Distributed ledger technology, specifically Blockchain, was a key focus of the event, reflecting the EU’s ongoing commitment to invest in next generation ‘hyperscaler’ technology.
Blockchain creates an unchangeable ledger of records maintained by a decentralised network. All records are approved by consensus, with groups of records linked in the ledger, forming a chain. The decentralised nature of blockchain can remove the need for intermediaries during transactions, while the immutability of the ledger helps to promote trust and security.
Joao Rodrigues Frade, Head of Sector Digital Building Blocks at European Commission’s Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT), introduced the European Financial Transparency Gateway (EFTG) pilot run by DG FISMA. The EFTG pilot experimented with blockchain technology to provide European citizens and investors with easier access to financial information on companies across the EU. He also presented the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) project, which will deliver a Europe-wide blockchain infrastructure offering numerous applications for public administrations in EU Member States. The Commission is delivering EBSI in close collaboration with the Member States through the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP), established in 2018 through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Panellists discuss how technology driven transparency can fuel the Capital
Markets Union
Peteris Zilgalvis, Head of Unit Digital Innovation and Blockchain at the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT), stated that EBSI is “the most significant blockchain initiative globally”, in terms of the number of countries actively collaborating.
In the ensuing panel discussion with Blockchain experts from public and private sector organisations, the point was made that the age of ‘hype’ or ‘experimentation’ around blockchain is ending. The focus now is on solving real business problems. In both the public and private sectors, we can see blockchain emerging as a powerful enabler for more secure and transparent records of events or transactions, from notarization of documents, to the verification of education credentials, to track-and-trace on shipments.
You can subscribe directly to the Commission's EBSI newsletter, to keep up to date with the developing infrastructure or read more about Blockchain policy in the EU.