EU confirms DLT securities trading pilot program will continue

An EU official said that the EU will continue to promote a pilot program for securities trading based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). The scheme, launched in April, relaxes financial services rules to allow securities traders to interact directly with the market and no longer rely on regulated intermediaries such as brokers and depositories. However, there are concerns that the short-term nature of the plan may undermine business support for innovative ideas. Commission official Ivan Keller emphasized that although the plan will be reviewed in three to six years, from a legal point of view, the current more flexible rules will continue to be in force, so "it is very unlikely that the DLT pilot program will be terminated." However, despite efforts to design the new system, only two official applications have been submitted, and Keller said five or six serious applications are in the pipeline. The pilot program is one of a number of blockchain technology experiments being carried out by the EU along with other global jurisdictions and is expected to save financial markets up to $100 billion annually by freeing up collateral and automating back-office processes. At the same time, the UK also plans to promote innovation and conduct a five-year DLT securities pilot project. Experts say that while some major securities issuers are cautious about potential risks, it is only a matter of time before wider adoption will bring real benefits to society. (CoinDesk)