Itaú and Standard Chartered launch LatAm's first blockchain-based loan platform
Brazil's largest private bank Itaú Unibanco and Standard Chartered have successfully concluded the development and testing of Latin America's first blockchain-based proof of concept for loans.
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In parallel, Itaú Unibanco has borrowed US$ 100 million through a club loan - a type of small syndicated loan - from Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo.
The blockchain PoC was carried out using the Corda Connect open source platform provided by enterprise blockchain software firm R3. Participants were able to monitor loan agreement revisions, comments and the sequence of approvals in a secure, transparent and paperless format.
As the sequences of changes are preserved, participants can also track and subsequently audit the changes leading up the deal closure.
The test simulations were conducted across the stage of negotiation of terms and conditions, including the revision of the loan agreement; the signatory process, delivering what was agreed in the preceding stage, as well as the signing itself.
According to the banks, use of blockchain to negotiate such agreements eliminates the exchange of e-mails, prevents version control issues of agreements and allows participants to ensure that requirements for the conclusion of the transaction are fulfilled in real time.