SME Finance Forum member, BNP Paribas along with others, has launched Liquidshare, a venture aimed at exploring distributed ledger technology and its potential to disrupt small business lending. CASEIS, Caisse des Depots, Euroclear, Euronext and S2iEM are also part of the initiative, while Paris Europlace is reportedly providing support.

The consortium will review how to use blockchain for real-time settlement, simplifying post-trade operations, securities registers consolidation and other processes. Liquidshare is the first to focus on how DLT can disrupt small business finance, including exploring ways to ease borrowers’ access to financing, lowering transaction costs and enabling businesses to raise funds.

Two of Liquidshare’s partners - Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale - both joined another blockchain consortium last month.