LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.,
April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), J.P.
Morgan, Northern Trust and Banco Santander today announced the
successful completion of a pilot which employs a blockchain
technology to enhance global proxy vote transparency and
analytics.
The pilot, Broadridge's first application of blockchain
technology, provides transparency by adapting distributed ledger
technology capabilities to provide daily insight into vote progress
throughout the issuer's proxy voting period, from meeting
announcement date to the annual general meeting. The application
ensures role-based access to voting data through use of
cryptography and smart contract technology and is built on an
Ethereum blockchain platform.
"This pilot demonstrates Broadridge's commitment to developing
innovative technology solutions to enhance transparency in the
global proxy voting process for the mutual benefit of all
stakeholders, ultimately improving corporate governance for all,"
said Vijay Mayadas, Senior Vice
President and Global Head of Corporate Strategy at Broadridge. "We
believe blockchain will drive increased quality and efficiency in
the voting chain by reducing complexity that exists within the
process today," he added.
"We are pleased to partner with Broadridge in undertaking this
innovative endeavor as we explore the use of blockchain to drive
efficiencies across the custody space," said Chris
Rowland, Global Head of Custody at J.P. Morgan.
"Corporate Governance is a key focus for our custody clients and
we are pleased to collaborate with Broadridge on this important
initiative,'' said Justin Chapman,
Global Head of Market Advocacy & Innovation Research at
Northern Trust. ''Providing end-to-end vote transparency using
blockchain as an enabler has the potential to significantly improve
the proxy voting process."
Julio Faura, head of the
Blockchain Lab at Banco Santander, said, "After piloting this blockchain-based
platform with Broadridge, we see that proxy voting makes an
interesting case where distributed ledgers and smart contracts can
add transparency and efficiency to financial services, to the
benefit of our corporate and institutional clients."
"The success of this pilot program reflects Broadridge's unique
ability to leverage our domain expertise and deliver blockchain
innovation to all industry participants," said Patricia Rosch, senior executive managing
Broadridge's international proxy business.
The pilot was run in support of a corporate issuer's annual
general meeting (AGM) and included participation of Santander
Investment, the issuer's agent. The pilot was run in parallel
of the AGM, with the blockchain being utilized to produce a
"shadow" digital register of the proxy voting taking place in the
traditional model.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
(NYSE: BR) is a leading provider of investor communications and
technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds
and other corporations. Broadridge's investor and customer
communications, securities processing and managed services
solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in
operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on
core business activities. With more than 50 years of experience,
Broadridge' s infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for
over 90% of public companies and mutual funds in North America and processes on average
$5 trillion in equity and fixed
income trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 10,000
associates in 16 countries. For more information about
Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.
About J.P. Morgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)
is a leading global financial services firm with assets of
$2.5 trillion and operations
worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial
services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking,
financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component
of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
serves millions of consumers in the
United States and many of the world's most prominent
corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P.
Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co.
is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.
About Northern Trust
Northern Trust Corporation
(Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset
servicing, asset management and banking to corporations,
institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in
Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust
has offices in the United States
in 19 states and Washington, D.C.,
and 22 international locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle
East and the Asia-Pacific
region. As of December 31, 2016,
Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$6.7 trillion, and assets under management of
US$942 billion. For more than 125
years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader
for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and
innovation. Visit northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter
@NorthernTrust.
© 2017 Northern Trust Corporation. Head Office: 50 South La
Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois
60603 U.S.A. Incorporated with limited liability in the U.S.
Products and services provided by subsidiaries of Northern Trust
Corporation may vary in different markets and are offered in
accordance with local regulation. For legal and regulatory
information about individual market offices, visit
northerntrust.com/disclosures.
About Banco Santander
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US,
BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, headquartered in
Spain, with a meaningful market
share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas. It is among the
world's top banks by market capitalization. The bank's purpose is
to help people and businesses prosper, in a way that is simple,
personal and fair. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.52 trillion in managed funds, 125 million
customers, 12,200 branches and 188,000 employees at the close of
2016. Santander made attributable profit of EUR 6,204 million in 2016, an increase of 4%
compared to the previous year.
Contact Information:
Investors:
W. Edings Thibault
Head of Investor Relations
+1 516-472-5129
edings.thibault@broadridge.com
Media:
Brett Philbin
Edelman
+1 212-704-8263
brett.philbin@edelman.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.