Launch of LiquidShare, the European blockchain fintech for SME post-trade

BNP Paribas, CACEIS, Caisse des Dépôts, Euroclear, Euronext, S2iEM and Société Générale with the support of Paris EUROPLACE announce the creation of the European fintech venture LiquidShare. This new independent startup is the fruit of a partnership launched by its shareholders in June 2016 to develop a post-trading blockchain infrastructure for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) market.

LiquidShare is a dynamic and innovative company which core objective is to improve SME’s access to capital markets, improving the transparency and security of post-trading operations using blockchain. With the financial support of its shareholders, the company aims to develop and operate a post-trading infrastructure that will serve these companies specifically. Eventually, the solution aims to reduce transaction costs.

LiquidShare will be set up shortly in a Parisian incubator where it will employ various profiles to implement the platform. The startup will be led by Thibaud de Maintenant, who is named Chief Executive Officer of the company. In close cooperation with its large institutional partners, Thibaud de Maintenant will combine functional and technical expertise with innovative solutions to work towards the company’s goal.

At the launch, he commented: “With the launch of LiquidShare, we will use the great potential of the blockchain technology to become a key player in the post-trade industry. Supported by shareholders across the European financial market ecosystem, this initiative is the first of its kind.”

In addition, Anthony Attia, Managing Board member of Euronext, is appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of LiquidShare.

LiquidShare harnesses blockchain technology that consists of a virtual ledger that assembles data for shared distribution between many different users. This technology has the potential to dramatically simplify the chain of post-trade operations, guaranteeing and facilitating the consolidation of securities registers, all while enabling a higher speed of execution with real-time settlement at T+0.