SEYCHELLES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MERJ (https://merj.exchange/) announces the first official listing of a tokenized security on a fully compliant and regulated national stock exchange. The move comes just six weeks after the Seychelles-based exchange announced its plans to combine traditional financial markets with distributed ledger technology (DLT), signaling the dawn of a new era for regulated digital assets.
MERJ will follow its listing, completed today, by offering 16% of the tokenized shares in a public offering later this year. The listing brings tokenized securities under the umbrella of an internationally compliant, regulated bourse for the first time. It enables MERJ -- which is licensed by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority as a securities exchange, clearing agency, and securities facility -- to provide end-to-end infrastructure that is compliant with the highest global standards of investor protection.
MERJ plans to use blockchain technology to streamline many securities market processes -- from issuance to shareholder registers, to compliance, distribution and voting -- ultimately reducing costs for investors and issuers. The technology creates an access point to capital markets that particularly suits the “mobile-first” ecosystems of many emerging markets. MERJ chose the Ethereum blockchain to record and share register ownership, as it is the optimal protocol for these purposes at this stage.
“We are combining the best of the old world and the new to provide a key piece of missing infrastructure” said Edmond Tuohy, CEO of MERJ Exchange. “We’ve spent three years working with our regulators to build a robust and compliant framework for issuers wanting to leverage the benefits of blockchain within a publicly listed environment. Our listing today, and the interest from other corporate issuers, demonstrates the validity of what we have built”
The Seychelles exchange developed as a result of the IMF and the World Bank working with the islands’ government to develop a financial services sector, in coordination with the OECD and FATF, ensuring compliance with the highest international standards.
About MERJ
MERJ EXCHANGE Limited, formerly Trop-X Limited, was incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles in 2011. The exchange went live in 2013 and upgraded from a correspondent member to an affiliate member of the World Federation of Exchanges in 2016.
