Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group
Purpose
This Working Group’s primary objectives are to focus on the education and creation of thought leadership for ISSA members engaged in Digital Assets (DA) and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and to create an early awareness of developments in this new market such as Decentralized Finance (DeFI) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT), including recommendations to ISSA members on how to approach it.
Scope / Key Deliverables
The nature of DA and DLT solutions are constantly evolving in an immature marketplace. The Working Group areas of focus include topics which would benefit from best practices, industry standardization and interoperability between participants. These topics span DLT, DA, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Stablecoins, NFT and DeFi. They are selected by the relative priority of the participating organisations but are approached from a Securities Services perspective.
The current in scope topics are:
(1) Digital Asset Custody
The scope of the first paper is:
To undertake an assessment of Digital Asset Custody (DAC) which will include:
- Setting out the existing global landscape
- Mapping how DAC fits into the crypto and digital asset landscape
- Understanding the main challenges and opportunities faced
- Assessing the different risks involved in DAC
- Highlighting the direction of travel for the industry
Key Deliverables: Publish White Paper on DAC in conjunction with GDF and Deloitte.
(2) Podcast series on “ISSA Member Showcasing DLT Deployments
To continue creating / publishing the “ISSA Member Showcasing DLT Deployments” podcast series
Key Deliverables: Regular Podcasts on “DLT in the Real World” highlighting the successes (and challenges) of our members on deploying DLT solutions.
(3) 2023 DLT in the Real World Survey
To initiate and analyze the 2023 DLT in the Real World Survey with Value Exchange
Key Deliverables: A report summarizing the key findings from the 2023 survey and highlighting the key changes since 2022.
Publications
Podcasts / Articles / Videos
- DLT panel discussion at SIBOS
- Podcast “DLT in the Real World” MarketNode discussing bond issuance as a prime use case for DLT
- Podcast “DLT in the Real World” Clearstream’s launch of the new D7 platform
- Podcast “DLT in the Real World” 2022 Survey findings (10/2022)
- Podcast “DLT in the Real World” HQLAx and Deutsche Boerse (07/2022)
- Podcast “DLT in the Real World” SDX and regulated Blockchain (03/2022)
- Podcast “DLT in the Real World” DTCC’s Private Market Initiative (02/2022)
- Podcast on “DLT – Voice of the Customer” Findings (11/2021)
- Podcast of “DLT in the Real World Survey” Findings (11/2021)
- Podcast Highlights of the ISSA & Value Exchange “DLT in the Real World Survey” (10/2020)
- ISSA Article Tokenization, August 2019
Reports
- DLT in the Real World Survey 2023 – Key Findings (07/2023)
- DLT in the Real World Survey 2022 – Analysis (10/2022)
- DLT In the Real World Survey 2022 – Key Findings (07/2022) >2 MB
- Revised DLT Asset Identifiers Matrix (07/2022) > Excel 417 kB
- Report “Crypto Assets: Moving from Theory to Practise – Revision 2022 (04/2022) > PDF 973 kB
- Report “Blueprint for CBDC in Post-Trade Settlement” (12/2021) > PDF 1.8 MB
- DLT In the Real World Survey 2021 – Key Findings (09/2021) > 285 kB
- DLT Asset Identifiers Matrix (09/2021)
- Report “DLT – Voice of the Customer Survey 2021” (08/2021) > PDF
- Industry Survey on “Adoption of DLT and Crypto-Assets” First Results (11/2019)
- Report “Crypto-Assets: Moving from Theory to Practice” (11/2019) > PDF 1.2 MB
- Report on “Tokenization – the Elegant Way Forward?” (08/2019) > PDF 321 kB
- Report “Infrastructure for Crypto-Assets: A Review by Infrastructure Providers” (10/2018) > PDF 787 kB
- DLT “Principles for Industry-Wide Acceptance” (06/2018) > PDF 1.2 MB
- Report “General Meeting Proxy Voting on Distributed Ledger”, Product Requirements (11/2017) > PDF 685 kB
- Cross-Reference Table aligning the Proxy Voting DLT solution with ISO 20 (11/2017) > PDF 395 kB

Working Group Co-Chairs
- Steve Everett, TMX Group
- Glen Fernandes, Euroclear
Executive Sponsor
- Vivekanand Ramgopal, Tata Consultancy Services
Institutions Represented by Experts in the Working Group
- Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)
- Accenture Plc
- Acupay System LLC
- Archax Holding Ltd.
- B3 Brazilian Exchange and OTC
- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA)
- Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA
- BNP Paribas S.A.
- Bolsa de Valores de Colombia BVC
- Broadridge Financial Solutions
- Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
- Bursa Malaysia Berhad
- Central Securities Clearing System Plc
- Citi
- Cofinpro
- Datos Insights
- DBS Bank
- Deposito Central de Valores (DCV)
- Deutsche Bank AG
- Deutsche Börse Group
- ECSDA
- Euroclear
- Euronext Securities – Monte Titoli
- European Central Securities Depositories Association ECSDA
- FIS
- Fnality International Limited
- Grupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores
- HSBC Holding Plc
- ISSA
- Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
- JP Morgan Chase & Co.
- KBC Group NV
- KDD Central Securities Clearing Corporation
- Korea Securities Depository KSD
- Maroclear S.A.
- Metaco SA
- Myriad Group Technologies Ltd
- Nasdaq Inc.
- Northern Trust Corporation
- NowCM
- NSDL Group India
- R3 LLC
- Royal Bank of Canada
- S&P Global / IHS Markit
- SEB Group
- Singapore Exchange Limited
- Standard Chartered Bank
- State Street Corporation
- Strate (Pty) Ltd
- SWIFT SCRL
- Swiss Re Ltd
- Tata Group
- Taurus
- The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
- The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
- The Global Blockchain Business Council
- The Investment Association
- The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd.
- The Standard Bank of South Africa
- The Stock Exchange of Thailand
- TMX Group Limited
- U.S. Bank N.A.
- UBS Grooup AG