Some say the real-time settlement capability and 100-percent straight-through-processing rate that comes with distributed ledger technology (DLT), will eventually sweep the floor with traditional CSDs. However, the recent announcement that European pioneer ID2S shuts its activities, is putting increasing emphasis on the word “eventually”.
Still up on the website is the company’s portal statement: “ID2S is the first European CSD to offer real-time settlement for Money Market instruments in conjunction with its strategic partner NowCP, the issuance and trading platform.”
The recent news release about the closure is less bold in its tone, briefly stating that “Orange S.A. and Citicorp North America Inc. as exclusive shareholders, have passed a resolution to close ID2S SA and commence its voluntary liquidation”.
Industry news site Global Custodian reports from a discussion panel att the Sibos conference how Steve Wager, head of direct custody and digital asset product development at BNY Mellon, questioned whether a zero-percent settlement fail ratio is in the interest of the industry.