BMO, Pension Plan Pilot Blockchain for Fixed Income Issuance

Canadian financial firm BMO Capital Markets is working with the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan on a new blockchain pilot.

The trial sees the two firms register a fixed income issuance on a blockchain platform in an effort to assess the viability of using the technology for this purpose.

"The transaction included Bank of Montreal as the issuer and Ontario Teachers' as the buyer of a CDN $250 [million] 1-year floating rate Deposit Note, making it the first Canadian dollar fixed income issuance demonstrating the viability of blockchain platform," BMO said in a statement.

The prototype allows participants to view the transaction and verify the accuracy of the term sheet and payment amounts before the security reaches maturity. The solution is aimed at reducing the costs associated with compliance and financial reporting, among other areas.

Ontario Teachers' is a notable partner, given the demographic it covers. The organization is a single-profession pension plan serving around 323,000 working and retired teachers in the province of Ontario, with $189.5 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2017.

"Ontario Teachers' is committed to exploring technology and innovations that might improve our ability to serve our members," Audrey Gaspar, a managing director for Ontario Teachers', said in a statement. "We are pleased to partner with Bank of Montreal in this pilot blockchain initiative."

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