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Broadridge Gets Blockchain Patent to Make Proxy Voting Easier

Broadridge Gets Blockchain Patent to Make Proxy Voting Easier

(Bloomberg) -- Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., a provider of trade-processing technology, has been granted a U.S. patent for distributed-ledger technology that could improve the processes for proxy voting and repurchase agreements.

“Broadridge is employing blockchain technology to enhance proxy voting through increased levels of corporate governance and transparency, security and operational efficiency,” Horacio Barakat, Broadridge’s vice president of corporate strategy, said in an email.

For example, the development could offer participants in the proxy process more granular insights into vote totals and progress against the proxy timeline, Barakat said.

Broadridge Gets Blockchain Patent to Make Proxy Voting Easier

Broadridge will also use the patent to increase efficiency and speed in the repurchase agreement market for securities, it said in a statement Thursday. The Lake Success, New York-based firm said in October that through a pilot with Societe Generale SA and Natixis SA, it found that distributed-ledger technology can make repo trades more efficient and less risky by providing a more secure record of transaction details.

--With assistance from Jenny Surane

To contact the reporter on this story: Lily Katz in New York at lkatz31@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Dave Liedtka, Jeremy Herron

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