Today Euroclear announced it has made an investment in Singapore market infrastructure Marketnode. HSBC led Marketnode’s Series A funding round in May. The company was founded in 2021 as a joint venture between the Singapore Exchange and state-backed investment company Temasek. Marketnode has a tokenization solution, Gateway, and a DLT based fund administration platform Fundnode.
Euroclear is particularly interested in the Fundnode offering, which it sees as strengthening its own Euroclear FundsPlace solution in the Asia-Pacific region.
Fundnode was built in association with the Singapore Funds Industry Group (SFIG), which is co-chaired by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and an industry representative. Two years ago Fundnode ran trials with many major players in the global asset management sector. Subsequently, it was confirmed as the operator of Singapore’s fund settlement infrastructure. Some of the trial participants included Apex Group, Citi, Deutsche Bank, FNZ, HSBC and State Street.
Fundnode went into production in Q2 of this year.
“Partnering with Marketnode demonstrates our shared commitment to developing a new generation of funds market infrastructure by leveraging Euroclear’s global footprint, established fund infrastructure and digital capabilities,” said Philippe Laurensy, Euroclear’s CEO of Asia Pacific. “This first strategic investment in Asia also reinforces the region’s importance to Euroclear’s positioning and business growth.”
As of 2023, Singapore has around $5.4 trillion in assets under management.
“Euroclear’s partnership will provide Marketnode with expertise and access to a wider ecosystem, reinforcing Singapore’s position as a leading financial hub for funds,” said Pradyumna Agrawal, Managing Director, Investment at Temasek.
DLT for funds
DLT has been recognized as a solution to many of the inefficiencies in fund administration, distribution and settlement. Earlier this year Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream completed the acquisition of FundsDLT, which was founded by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Fund administrator Apex acquired FundAdminChain in 2022. Several players in the fund distribution sector are active in this area, including Calastone, Allfunds and FNZ.
