Baton Systems has integrated with LCH to automate the end-to-end collateral workflow for derivatives participants, with the partnership expanding its network of central counterparties (CCPs).
J.P. Morgan will be the first of Baton’s clients to manage their collateral at LCH using the Baton platform, whose shared permissioned ledger integrates with existing collateral and cash systems of external providers, including CCPs and custodians.
Anthony Fraser, Head of Global Clearing Operations and Cost & Commission Services at J.P. Morgan, said: “Baton’s integration with LCH is a significant milestone in our aim to have a comprehensive global coverage of CCPs on the platform. This will bring further efficiency in our collateral management process and will provide greater real-time visibility of our margin and collateral holdings.”
Baton normalizes and harmonizes data and collateral workflows for all integrated CCPs to enable access to consolidated intra-day information in a single dashboard, with true visibility into the full collateral lifecycle.
This includes visibility of margin requirements, a standardized process for pledging and recalling collateral, and real-time visibility and accelerated movement of asset movements at external custody banks and CCPs.
Tucker Dona, Head of Business Development and Client Success at Baton Systems, commented: “The growing network of market participants on Baton’s platform is a testament to our vision of revolutionizing payments and settlements in capital markets. With additional CCP connectivity, we are streamlining the collateral workflow process for market participants and enabling greater efficiency while also reducing costs typically associated with legacy systems.”
J.P. Morgan is no stranger to Baton Systems. In 2019, both companies developed a solution that enables the near-real-time orchestration of cash and collateral transfers to multiple clearinghouses. The implementation of the platform is ongoing, being scaled across global clearing houses, and is available for deployment across all major derivatives firms.
Baton has recently appointed Aaron Ayusa as Director of Client Success. As the name of the role implies, he will help customers solve FX-related issues and develop bespoke FX products.
Baton is continually supporting its growth in the FX space by reinforcing its leadership team. Most recently, the firm hired Jerome Kemp as Senior Advisor, and Philip Corryn as Director of Sales, North America. In 2019, the company appointed Alex Knight as Head of EMEA.
In 2019, Baton Systems has raised more than $12 million in a Series A investment round in order to increase processing times and efficiencies within the $2 trillion global payments market.
The funding was used to support the global deployment of Baton’s blockchain-inspired, bank-to-bank payments infrastructure. At the time, Baton’s tech had been deployed at three of the world’s top ten global banks, as well as multiple exchanges and clearinghouses, which has resulted in the processing of more than $12 billion each business day in payments between market participants and clearing house counterparties.
