ICMA director comments on the importance of CryptoRepo

In January 2018, Global Investor Group covered the launch of the Oxygen platform and interviewed Andy Hill, a senior director at the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). Since the early 1990s, ICMA has played a significant role in promoting the interests and activities of the international repo market, and of the product itself.

Mr Hill stated: «Cryptocurrencies certainly lend themselves to repo from the perspective that they are fungible and easily valued. I think the most exciting thing about this, however, is the use of ‘smart contracts’ which effectively disintermediates custodians, clearers, and settlement systems. It doesn’t seem unreasonable that at some point in the near future this is where we will end up for more traditional financial markets such as FX and bonds.»

ICMA is a self-regulatory organization and trade association. Its membership includes issuers, intermediaries, investors and capital market infrastructure providers. ICMA is promoting development of internationally accepted guidelines, rules and standards in order to maintain and enhance the framework of cross border issuing, trading and investing in debt instruments.