Proof of concept establishes seamless
interoperability between CGI Trade360 platform, a trade finance
platform used by banks in 90+ countries worldwide, and Skuchain's
blockchain-based Brackets platform for smart contracts
TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - CGI (TSX:
GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), along with the Bank of Montreal (BMO), Royal Bank of Canada, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group,
Inc. (MUFG), have successfully completed a first-ever proof of
concept (POC) that enables banks engaged in trade finance to
integrate powerful blockchain capabilities with existing trade
finance platforms potentially leading to added productivity,
reduced costs and providing customers with a competitive advantage.
The POC established seamless interoperability between CGI Trade360,
which is a bank trade finance platform, and Skuchain Brackets, a
distributed ledger B2B platform for smart contracts. For the first
time, a trade finance platform and a blockchain-based platform have
been integrated to demonstrate how banks will be able to provide
trade finance services digitally to their customers conducting
business on blockchain B2B platforms.
Historically, trade finance has been a complicated and
paper-intensive line of business and a source of delay in buyer and
seller transactions. This POC successfully demonstrated streamlined
processes for digital trading, from sales agreement creation (smart
contract), letter of credit (LC) application and
issuance/advisement to presentation of documents, bank examination
and payment notification. Instantaneous delivery of electronic
documents could reduce the in-transit time required for conducting
this business from days to minutes.
This POC points the way to an end-to-end, holistic solution
between a corporate's B2B platform and the CGI Trade360 trade
services platform including a broader set of trade finance
products. The ultimate goal of the B2B platforms is to achieve
greater visibility for a customer into their supply chain and
ensure accountability through complete and unalterable audit trails
of end-to-end processes. Demonstrating interoperability between CGI
Trade360 and Brackets sets the stage for further digital
transformation of financial supply chains.
"Blockchain and smart contracts have the potential to reinvent
global trade – improving speed, reducing costs, enhancing
productivity and taking the paper out of trade," said Jeff Shell, head of Global Trade and Banking
with BMO Capital Markets. "CGI has been an important trade
finance technology partner to BMO for many years, and this Skuchain
Brackets proof of concept collaboration is another example of BMO's
commitment to stay at the forefront of the trade and supply chain
finance industry."
"RBC is always looking for new and innovative ways to help
clients manage and grow their business," said Lisa Lansdowne-Higgins, Vice President, Business
Financial Services at RBC. "Global trade is a high growth
opportunity for Canadian businesses to expand their reach and
achieve that growth. Blockchain technology is an emerging
opportunity to drive supply chain efficiencies and this test is a
foundational step forward for the business."
"MUFG is pleased to support CGI's Blockchain initiatives. This
new technology will contribute to transforming how Trade Finance
supports our customers. We understand the important role that
leading Trade Finance banks, like MUFG, can play in revolutionizing
how technology drives our business," said Steven Lotito, Head of Trade Finance Transaction
Banking at MUFG.
"Skuchain is proud to have executed, along with CGI and its bank
partners, the first integration of two production-grade systems to
provide a blockchain-based trade finance platform for commercial
use in the near future. Our company was built on the premise that
blockchain will bring enormous efficiencies to the supply chain,
and supporting the adoption of blockchain for end-to-end trade
finance transactions is an important part of that mission," said
Srinivasan Sriram, CEO of
Skuchain.
"Interoperability between CGI Trade360 and Brackets provides a
fully digital workflow using existing transaction processing," said
Frank Tezzi, CGI Vice President of
Trade and Supply Chain. "Banks will not only support their supply
chain customers with leading edge technology, but will leverage
their existing investments in operating models and trained staff.
CGI Trade360 and Skuchain's Brackets form a holistic solution that
we intend to evolve into a commercial offering," Tezzi said.
About Skuchain
Skuchain is a blockchain technology
company that provides transparency, security and efficiency to the
supply chain, enabling optimal planning and agility for downstream
buyers and working capital relief for upstream suppliers.
Skuchain's agile solution suite has been adopted across aerospace,
food and agriculture, electronics, energy, auto, finance and other
industries. For more information, go to www.skuchain.com or email
info@skuchain.com.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is the fifth
largest independent information technology and business process
services firm in the world. Approximately 70,000 professionals
serve thousands of global clients from offices and delivery centers
across the Americas, Europe and
Asia Pacific, leveraging a
comprehensive portfolio of services including high-end business and
IT consulting, systems integration, application development and
maintenance, infrastructure management as well as a wide range of
proprietary solutions. With annual revenue in excess of
C$10 billion and an order backlog of
approximately C$20 billion, CGI
shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Website:
www.cgi.com.
SOURCE CGI Group Inc.