Japan proposes to establish an immediate settlement system of the block chain covering stock-to-state debt transactions

On 26 August, according to daily news reports, Japan was preparing to establish a payment infrastructure based on block-chain technology to achieve an immediate settlement of stock and national debt transactions. The Financial Services Office, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Japan and the relevant financial institutions will launch a research team this summer to develop, at the earliest, a development plan in early 2027, covering the design of block chains, the division of responsibilities among institutions and a road map for the future. If the plan is formally approved, it is expected that the system will be completed within a few years and will be operational as soon as the early 2030s and may be further expanded to the area of international remittances. Currently, the cash settlement for the Japanese stock exchange is completed two days after the date of the transaction, and the national debt transaction is settled the following day. Real-time settlement systems would eliminate the time lag between transactions and the settlement of funds, allowing investors to reinvest the proceeds at almost the same time as the assets were sold。