Malta Stock Exchange creates Blockchain committee and think tank

The Malta Stock Exchange has created a Blockchain committee to formulate a strategy geared towards addressing this emerging technology.

The committee will consists of MSE board members, its chairman and CEO and outside experts. It will be chaired by Abdalla Kablan, a Malta Stock Exchange Director, entrepreneur and academic specializing in machine intelligence, big data, analytics and computational finance.

“Malta and the MSE are quite fortunate to have at our disposal our country’s preeminent technologist and a globally recognized expert on blockchain technology,” MSE chairman Joseph Portelli said. “Dr. Kablan has a proven track record within the technology space, evidenced by his latest start-up Hippo Data, the first Maltese company to ever be selected into the London Microsoft Accelerator Program.”

The Exchange will also soon unveil the Malta Stock Exchange Blockchain Consortium - a think tank which will bring together experts from the MSE’s stakeholders as well as from other organizations throughout Malta to share knowledge and perhaps joint venture on the design and implementation of blockchain applications.

Blockchain is a method of recording and confirming transactions where participants hold complete records of transactions through peer to peer verification, without the need for a central clearing house. Many stock exchanges throughout the world are investigating and identifying applications.

In a statement, the MSE said that Blockchain has serious potential within the Finance Industry, particularly with regards to record keeping, trade verification and settlement. It added that it can potentially revolutionize back office processes, making the settlement process more instantaneous, productive and cost efficient – saving the financial industry over $100 billion annually in back office costs.

Scotland will soon start a stock exchange called SCOTEX using the latest distributed ledger technology for its clearing process. The company said that blockchain will allow investors and brokers to receive their money 15 minutes after a trade is executed.

“With Dr. Kablan’s expertise and the Malta Stock Exchange’s leadership it is hoped the ground work will be layed for Malta’s and the MSE’s first blockchain application,” Portelli said.