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Smart contracts for the digital economy
Journal of Securities Operations & Custody,
12
(1),
82-87
(2019)
Abstract
Smart contract technology is increasingly being seen as a way for the derivatives industry to realise operational efficiencies and cut costs. With this new technology potentially transforming how derivatives are executed and managed through the entire life cycle, it seems the derivatives market is on the cusp of significant modernisation. But this technology is at the relatively early stage of development, and there is still a lack of agreement on what a smart contract is, what role it can play in the derivatives market and how it might interact with existing legal standards and documentation. This paper analyses whether a smart contract could ultimately replace an existing legal contract in its entirety, or whether it will only automate the execution of certain actions specified within the contract?
Keywords: smart contracts; contract digitisation; financial market utilities; collateral management; automation
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Manan Shah is a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is a global leader with over 15 years of experience of guiding the largest financial organisations from strategy through execution. In his role, he has cultivated client relationships, identified client relationships, recognised opportunities and managed delivery teams. Manan has expertise delivering solutions across all functions such as trade capture, middle office processing, settlement, clearing, collateral and counterparty risk management, liquidity, risk management and compliance. He has expertise in digital transformation, business and technical architecture development, business process redesign, vendor selection and implementation, and programme management. Manan is recognised as a market leader in the collateral and counterparty risk management field. He has been invited to participate in International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) working groups to provide guidance and expertise in order to make financial markets safer, more transparent and operationally efficient. He has published a number of articles in major publications and industry journals. Manan works actively with numerous financial services publications and serves on the Editorial Board of many of these publications. Due to his expertise and contributions to the industry through professional services, Manan was honoured as one of 25 Global Consulting Leaders for 2018 by Consulting Magazine, the flagship publication of the consulting profession. Manan holds a double master’s degree (City University, London, and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh).
Rajbir Samra is a Manager of Banking and Capital Markets at Financial Services Advisory. He has over 12 years of experience in technology consulting, project management and process and operations with large financial services firms. Rajbir has led successful project management office transformation projects across different geographies. He has managed Op-model function as part of a major back/middle office transformation programme and has successfully led crossfunctional business and information technology projects towards successful delivery and implementation within the financial services industry.
