Fintech firm HQLAx closes €14.4M strategic investment round
Fintech firm HQLAx has successfully closed a EUR 14.4 million strategic investment round led by BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas Securities Services and Citigroup, and with participation from longtime strategic partner Deutsche Börse Group.
BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs will connect to the HQLAx platform in 2021 to accelerate collateral mobility for their clients across the securities finance ecosystem.
BNY Mellon will connect as both Triparty Agent and Agent Lender, Goldman Sachs as Principal, BNP Paribas Securities Services as Triparty Agent, and Citibank as Custodian.
HQLAx’s core clients are financial institutions active in securities lending and collateral management. Leveraging R3’s distributed ledger technology Corda Enterprise, the HQLAx platform enables market participants to transfer ownership of securities seamlessly across disparate collateral pools at precise moments in time. This allows participants to optimize their liquidity management and collateral management activities, thereby generating operational efficiency gains and capital cost savings.
Stephan Leithner, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse and Clearstream Chairman, said:
“Having worked with HQLAx for three years now, we are excited to see the network developing and such key industry players joining as shareholders and customers. Building innovative and future-proof market infrastructures in a collaborative approach is an integral part of Deutsche Börse’s and Clearstream’s growth strategy as they are key for flexible and efficient financial markets. This initiative shows that DLT is already being effectively leveraged to digitize collateral in regulated and safe environments.”
Guido Stroemer, Chairman and CEO of HQLAx, said:
“Our company has come a long way from starting out as a concept in an R3 Laboratory to partnering with Deutsche Börse and going into production with early adopters Commerzbank, Credit Suisse and UBS. Closing this strategic investment round with BNP Paribas Securities Services, BNY Mellon, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs is another major step towards market adoption.”
