TOKYO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant (NASDAQ:
CTSH) today announced that it has been selected by Mizuho Financial
Group (NYSE: MFG, TYO: 8411), one of the largest financial
institutions in the world, to develop a distributed ledger solution
to make trade finance more efficient and secure.
Cognizant will use Corda, a distributed ledger platform
developed by R3, a consortium of the world's largest financial
institutions, to digitize trade documents such as letters of credit
and bills of lading. This will provide Mizuho Financial Group and
its customers with a framework to explore the use of distributed
ledger technology to reduce fraud, delays and other business risks
arising from costly paperwork, and provide enhanced visibility to
all parties involved in the trade and transport value chain.
The engagement marks the expansion of a strategic partnership
between Mizuho Financial Group and Cognizant to leverage
distributed ledger technology for building new work processes to
make transactions and digital interactions more secure, efficient
and cost-effective, thereby delivering superior experience to
customers.
"We are pleased to be the early adopters of distributed ledger
technology in Japan to power our
processes and workflows," said Daisuke
Yamada, Managing Executive Officer and Chief Digital
Innovation Officer of Mizuho Financial Group. "We continue to work
aggressively towards expanding the implementation of new
technologies across the group in order to provide better and
advanced financial services to our customers. Cognizant's global
financial services and digital transformation expertise complements
our vision and has opened additional avenues for us to tap the
potential of distributed ledger technology."
"Trade finance has been a major area of focus for R3 and our
members over the last year," said David E Rutter, CEO of R3.
"Corda's unique technology was developed specifically to address
the type of challenges this industry faces, making traditionally
paper-based processes more secure, cost-effective and efficient.
It's the only distributed ledger platform built from the ground up
in direct response to the specific pain points encountered by
market participants in areas such as trade financing."
"Distributed ledger technology heralds a significant opportunity
for the financial services industry to create greater trust and
accountability," said Prasad
Chintamaneni, President of Global Industries and Consulting
at Cognizant. "We have developed comprehensive capabilities over
the years to be a trusted advisor in the fast-moving distributed
ledger market and are diligently investing in solutions that bring
together best-in-class technology with the full-suite of services
necessary to realize distributed ledger's full potential. We are
proud to be partners with pioneering organizations such as Mizuho
Financial Group in paving the way for distributed ledger
innovations of tomorrow."
About Mizuho Financial Group
The Mizuho Financial
Group is one of the largest financial institutions in the world,
offering a broad range of services including banking, trust banking
and securities, and other business related to financial services
through its group companies. The group has approximately 55,000
staff working in approximately 900 offices inside and outside
Japan, and total assets of over US
$1.7 trillion (as of March 2016). Under the umbrella of the holding
company Mizuho Financial Group, the major group companies include
Mizuho Bank (MHBK), Mizuho Trust
& Banking (MHTB) and Mizuho Securities (MHSC). Visit us online
at www.mizuho-fg.co.jp.
About R3
R3 is leading a consortium with over 80
banks, clearing houses, exchanges, market infrastructure providers,
asset managers, central banks, conduct regulators, trade
associations, professional services firms and technology companies
to develop groundbreaking commercial applications of distributed
ledger technology for the financial services industry.
Operating in nine countries from all regions of the world, the
R3 team is made up of financial industry veterans, technologists,
and new tech entrepreneurs, bringing together expertise from
electronic financial markets, cryptography and digital
currencies.
About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ-100: CTSH) is one of
the world's leading professional services companies, transforming
clients' business, operating and technology models for the digital
era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients
envision, build and run more innovative and efficient businesses.
Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant is ranked 230 on the Fortune
500 and is consistently listed among the most admired companies in
the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at
www.cognizant.com or follow us @Cognizant.
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SOURCE Cognizant