BNY to bring transfer agency records onchain in blockchain push

BNY, one of the world’s largest custodian banks, is taking a major step toward blockchain-based financial infrastructure by moving fund ownership records onchain.The New York-based institution will launch a blockchain-based version of its transfer agency business, which manages fund ownership records and investor transactions, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.“We think of BNY as modernizing a function that sits behind every single fund transaction by bringing the books and records on-chain,” Carolyn Weinberg, BNY’s chief product and innovation officer, reportedly said.The move follows BNY’s broader digital asset expansion, including its European regulatory progress under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, as the bank positions itself for the next phase of institutional blockchain adoption.What are transfer agency records?Transfer agents are financial service providers that maintain official records of who owns shares in investment funds. They handle tasks such as processing investor transactions, issuing and redeeming fund shares, updating ownership records and supporting communication between funds and investors.These records form part of the behind-the-scen...