TCS’ Quartz Blockchain Solution powers Landmark Cross-Border Data Exchange in Africa

TCS Completes Innovative Pilot for Cross Border Corporate Action Data Exchange in Africa; a Potential Pan-African Ecosystem on the Horizon

SYDNEY | MUMBAI, October 23, 2018: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, announced that two of its TCS BaNCS customers in Africa: Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc., the Central Securities Depository (CSD) of Nigeria, and South Africa based Standard Bank, a leading custodian, have successfully completed a pilot using the Quartz Blockchain technology for cross-border corporate action information exchange using the BaNCS Network, potentially seeding an innovative pan-African financial ecosystem for cross-border information exchange and transaction settlement.

In an innovative pilot, a Blockchain ecosystem consisting of the TCS BaNCS Network, with Blockchain nodes for CSCS Nigeria and Standard Bank South Africa, was set up using TCS’ Quartz Blockchain solution in a coexistent architecture. Leveraging the power of Blockchain, corporate action information was exchanged on a real-time basis for a wide range of equities and fixed income instruments over the BaNCS Network.

To demonstrate the ability to extend the ecosystem to other stakeholders, additional Blockchain nodes were configured for Registrars on the BaNCS Network. This successful pilot for information exchange using the BaNCS Network, Quartz and TCS BaNCS solutions has the potential to extend its usage for transfers and settlement.

“Blockchain represents a unique opportunity for early adopters interested in transforming their businesses and industries. CSCS is excited to have worked together with TCS BaNCS and Quartz Solutions on this innovative pilot that has the potential of generating efficiencies in the financial markets. This is a significant step towards our vision of being the globally respected and leading central securities depository in the region. Our next steps are to continue exploring ways in which CSCS could harness the capabilities of Blockchain technology in other areas of our core operations and extend it to other market participants in the region”, said Haruna Jalo-Waziri, CEO, CSCS Plc, Nigeria

“Standard Bank's digital strategy focuses on leveraging innovative technology, driving Africa's growth by building the continent's digital economy. As Africa's largest Investor Services provider we are also committed to driving the development of African capital markets. As such, we are excited to be part of a pilot which has conclusively demonstrated the ability of Quartz Blockchain to support seamless information exchange between capital market participants. In addition, we are particularly proud of the TCS BaNCS solution that Standard Bank used to connect to Quartz Blockchain. This innovation enabled us to complete the pilot in record time. The results of this successful technology pilot presents exciting opportunities for Africa to deepen innovation, increase efficiency and drive integration in its capital markets. Standard Bank will continue to work with TCS to explore ways to develop future-ready digital solutions for all our stakeholders”, said Charl Bruyns, Head - Investor Services and Financial Institutions, Standard Bank Group.

“Blockchain amplifies the value of information sharing networks. Each customer on the network represents not just a point of consumption of information, but also the promise of a continued flow of new data and transactions into a shared distributed ledger. This is the power of the BaNCS Network, in line with our Business 4.0 objective of enabling ecosytems,” said R Vivekanand, Vice President and Co-Head, Financial Solutions, TCS. “The BaNCS Network deployed on the Cloud includes ready Quartz Blockchain Solutions which can be used for various scenarios across the financial landscape by TCS BaNCS customers, as proved by CSCS and Standard Bank.”

About TCS Financial Solutions

TCS Financial Solutions is a strategic business unit of Tata Consultancy Services. Dedicated to providing business solutions to financial institutions globally, TCS Financial Solutions has compiled a comprehensive product portfolio under the brand name of TCS BaNCS. The TCS BaNCS universal financial solution is designed to help financial services institutions enhance end customer experience, enabling them to embrace open and innovative technologies that embody true digital customer engagement. Deployed at more than 450 installations worldwide, it is the largest collection of components, enterprise and consumer apps for the financial industry made available through the cloud, helping firms become more agile and intelligent by leveraging the power of new and extended ecosystems.

To know more about TCS BaNCS, please visit: https://www.tcs.com/bancs

About Quartz Blockchain Solutions

Blockchain has the power to bring organizations together by creating ecosystems that amplify the value delivered by each on a stand-alone basis. Such ecosystems have the potential to drive transformation across sectors, including BFSI, retail, healthcare, and utilities. Quartz can help organizations in the creation of such industry networks and ecosystems, and facilitate easy connectivity to them. It can thus help organizations harness the power of Business 4.0, a TCS framework designed to help our customers experience personalization, create exponential value, leverage the power of ecosystems, and embrace risk. Quartz is designed keeping in mind principles of co-existence, integration and interoperability and can redefine how organizations can collaborate, leverage their collective strengths and create strong business value for end customers.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for the last fifty years. TCS offers a consulting-led, Cognitive powered, integrated portfolio of IT, Business & Technology Services, and engineering. This is delivered through its unique Location Independent Agile delivery model, recognised as a benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has over 411,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 46 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $19.09 billion for year ended March 31, 2018 and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India. TCS' proactive stance on climate change and award winning work with communities across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

About CSCS Plc

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc. is the Central Securities Depository (CSD) for the Nigerian Capital Market. In this capacity, CSCS facilitates the delivery (transfer of shares from seller to buyer) and settlement (payment for bought shares) of securities in its custody when same securities are traded on any recognized Exchange in the Nigerian Capital Market. The business objective of the CSD is to ensure that stocks having been converted into electronic book-entry form can be transacted in a prompt and seamless manner.

About Standard Bank South Africa

Standard Bank South Africa is the largest operating entity of Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets. Standard Bank Group reported total assets of R2 trillion (about USD165 billion) at 31 December 2017, while its market capitalisation was R317 billion (USD28 billion).

In South Africa, Standard Bank provides the full spectrum of financial services. Its Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) division serves a wide range of requirements for banking, finance, trading, investment, risk management and advisory services. CIB delivers this comprehensive range of products and services relating to: investment banking; global markets; and global transactional products and services.

Standard Bank’s CIB expertise is focused on industry sectors that are most relevant to emerging markets. It has strong offerings in mining and metals; oil, gas and renewables; power and infrastructure; agribusiness; telecommunications and media; and financial institutions.

Standard Bank’s Personal & Business Banking (PBB) offers banking and other financial services to individuals and small-to-medium enterprises. PBB’s product offering includes transactional services, lending products, mortgage lending, card products, vehicle and asset finance and wealth.

Standard Bank has 640 branches and 7 224 ATMs in South Africa. Independent surveys of customer satisfaction consistently place Standard Bank at or near the top of their rankings.

For further information, go to http://www.standardbank.co.za

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