LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) announced today it has processed the first live capital call using distributed ledger technology for Emerald Cleantech Fund III LP, adding a significant new capability to its industry-leading blockchain solution for private equity fund administration.
The fully automated capital call administration functionality was deployed for Emerald Cleantech Fund III, a venture capital fund focused on technology companies. Investment advisor Emerald Technology Ventures utilised Northern Trust’s private equity blockchain for the fund’s capital call administration, endorsing Emerald’s commitment to technology leadership in alternative asset administration operations. The capital call, executed by Northern Trust and Emerald Cleantech Fund III, involved parties in the investment advisor’s office in Zurich, Switzerland; the Board of Directors; and PwC Channel Islands, the fund’s auditor, who performed the audit of the capital call. All parties connected through a distributed ledger based in Guernsey, operated by Northern Trust in its capacity as the fund’s administrator.
“Northern Trust has again broken new ground in the live application of blockchain technology in financial services,” said Pete Cherecwich, President of Corporate & Institutional Services at Northern Trust. “Working in partnership with key clients and regulators, we continue to deploy additional distributed ledger capabilities that drive efficiency and security across the spectrum of private equity lifecycle events. This is a further demonstration of how Northern Trust continues to lead the market with our innovation in technology. ”
Northern Trust launched the first commercial blockchain solution for private equity fund administration in 2017 and won U.S. patents in 2018 for Digital Identity Management and Digital Meeting Management, two critical elements of the move from manual to digital operations in private equity. Northern Trust also collaborated with major audit firms to develop direct access to fund data enabling real-time auditing of private equity lifecycle events.
“We are proud to participate in this milestone in the use of distributed ledger technology,” said Hans Dellenbach, Partner and CFO at Emerald Technology Ventures. “Northern Trust’s technology and operations teams have built an industrial strength, scalable and secure cloud application that is fully micro-service based and uses advanced event-based communications and application programming interface. Emerald is proud to be a first mover in using blockchain technology for fund administration and happy to see it deployed successfully on behalf of our innovative fund and investors.”
About Emerald Technology Ventures
Emerald is a globally recognized investment firm in the areas of energy, water, advanced materials and industrial IT. Founded in 2000, the company has raised four Venture Capital Funds, completed more than 60 venture investments, been a trusted partner for numerous multi-national corporations in their open innovation activities and managed three technology investment programs for third parties. From offices in Zurich, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada, Emerald has managed assets of over USD 660 million to date. www.emerald-ventures.com
About Northern Trust
Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has offices in the United States in 19 states and Washington, D.C., and 23 international locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of September 30, 2018, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$10.8 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.1 trillion. For more than 125 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter @NorthernTrust.
Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at https://www.northerntrust.com/disclosures.
