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 Utility Settlement Coin, tokenizes money deposited with a central bank to enable 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 officially recognized as a payment system by the UK Treasury. The other currencies planned are the euro, the American dollar, the Japanese yen and the Canadian dollar.
Reiterating that plan today, Fnality CEO Rohomaios Ram said, “At Fnality, we are excited to leverage Nomura’s extensive capital markets experience in Japan, the United States and Europe as as we expand beyond the UK. Sources told Ledger Insights that Fnality is advancing its work on the digital euro, also evidenced by an investment from Euroclear earlier this year. And Fnality participated in the recent launch of DTCC’s Project Ion for securities settlement in the United States.
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 the progression of security token issuance. As this develops, the need for settlement with cash on the ledger in central bank money will become more pressing.
Fnality is currently in the process of raising £50 million ($54 million) in 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, Global Head of Business Development and Nomura’s strategic investments.
“We look forward to leveraging Fnality’s technology and expertise to continue delivering differentiated value to our customers and partners around the world.”
Meanwhile, Nomura has been active in blockchain and capital markets for years, founding Boostry, which has a tokenization platform used for bonds and other instruments. Additionally, it recently launched a digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital Holdings, in Switzerland.
Fnality’s full list of investors are 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.