EquiLend bets on Digital Prime as institutions push into tokenized lending

Global financial technology company EquiLend on Wednesday made a minority investment in Digital Prime Technologies. The TradFi giant said the initiative aims to address client demand for governed and transparent workflows.

EquiLend also hopes that client demand across both traditional and virtual assets can seamlessly transition from trading to post-trade processing and reporting. The securities finance utility giant with $40 trillion in lendable assets didn’t disclose how much the investment cost.

EquiLend seeks to align workflows with NGT and 1Source post-trade platforms

EquiLend confirmed that the initiative will focus on Digital Prime’s institutional lending network, Tokenet. Both firms believe the lending network will introduce new features like regulated stablecoin collateral.

According to the announcement, Digital Prime’s lending network supports multi-custodian and multi-collateral lifecycle management. Tokenet also supports exposure monitoring and institutional reporting. EquiLend added that the lending network is looking to add more tokenized instruments in its future phases.

Grossi said investing in Digital Prime advances the firm’s infrastructure model to tokenized assets and digital markets. He also believes the initiative will position the data and analytics company to support clients as its market grows.

Nick Delikaris, Chief Product Officer at EquiLend, acknowledged that the investment will enable EquiLend to extend its market-lending infrastructure into tokenized assets and digital assets. He said it will provide the same transparency, institutional difficulty, and automation that the firm’s clients rely on. 

James Runnels, co-founder and CEO of Digital Prime Technologies, also championed the partnership. He stated that EquiLend’s investment will help the U.S.-regulated provider of institutional crypto financing scale thoughtfully as it focuses on compliance, risk management, and transparency for clients.

According to the report, EquiLend aims to align its workflows with its NGT and the 1Source post-trade platform. The firm noted that the initiative will involve routing aggregated activity to EquiLend’s Data & Analytics. The financial technology company believes it will enhance market transparency and operational efficiency, driven by a reduction in settlement cycles and the modernization of financial activities.

EquiLend ‘s investment comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission extended compliance deadlines for securities lending and short position reporting requirements. The SEC stated that the extended rules apply to individuals entering into securities loan agreements.

U.S SEC extends compliance deadlines for securities lending

The government agency pushed the Securities Lending Reporting rule to September 28, 2028. The SEC also extended the Public dissemination date to March 29, 2029. 

On the Short Position Reporting rule, the SEC extended the reporting date to January 2, 2028. The agency also requires the first filing to be made within 12 calendar days after January of the same year. The extended rules will only apply to institutional investment managers.

The SEC argued that the temporary extensions will serve the public interest and protect investors, as the Commission will be able to amend the rules further. The agency stated that the extension provides it with time to respond to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion regarding reassessment of the cumulative economic impact of such rules. 

EquiLend said that the extended timelines don’t alter its approach, and it remains committed to establishing reporting solutions that meet regulatory requirements. The firm added that it’s actively tracking the SEC’s review process and any potential amendments in the future. 

EquiLend promised to incorporate those changes into its product development over the coming months. The firm said that the initiative will ensure clients have compliant and operationally efficient reporting tools in place ahead of the deadline.

The financial technology company acknowledged that the temporary extensions provide an opportunity to refine its implementation strategies and testing protocols. The firm also believes that early engagement with reporting solutions can reduce operational pressures ahead of expected deadlines.

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