Exchange operator Nasdaq announced yesterday that it is developing an electronic shareholder voting system based on blockchain technology for the South African capital markets.

To be delivered to South African central securities depository Strate, Nasdaq's blockchain solution aims to bring greater voting efficiencies and shareholder participation by offering a "secure and user-friendly" tool for remote participation, a press release says.

According to Tanya Knowles, managing executive of Fractal Solutions, a division of Strate, the administration-heavy environment has associated "risks and inefficiencies."

Noting that the planned blockchain system is an end-to-end solution for the voting process from the time of announcement till the publishing of results, Knowles explained:

"The solution aims to service our clients' needs across the market from transfer secretaries to issuers, custodians, asset managers and those holding shares in listed companies."

Lars Ottersgard, executive vice president of Nasdaq, said that the blockchain solution will "reduce friction" in the voting process and will make sure that the information remains transparent to stakeholders with proper security, governance and risk procedures.

The blockchain solution is based on a proof-of-concept developed by Nasdaq for the Estonian market that the firm said "successfully demonstrated" how a blockchain could be used for assigning voting rights using tokens for each shareholder, as well as to record the ownership of securities.

Voting image via Shutterstock

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