Tonic was thrilled to be invited to the exclusive Northern Trust Technology Symposium on 17th September 2024 - an invite-only event hosted at the iconic Cheesegrater in the heart of London.  

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The Symposium gathered Northern Trust's key partners and stakeholders for lively conversations around the latest tech and data trends shaping the financial industry.  

The agenda was packed with hot topics like data, digital assets, AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity - covering everything that's buzzing in the industry right now!  

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For us at Tonic, the Digital Asset panel was a real highlight, given Tonic’s active focus in this space.  

Jon Watkins, Managing Editor and Publisher of Global Custodian acted as moderator, with several high-profile Digital leaders sitting alongside him on the panel:

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• Justin Chapman, Global Head of Digital Assets and Financial Markets at Northern Trust  

• Mathew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sach  

• Nadine Chakar, Head of Digital Assets at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC)

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Lots of high-value insights were provided throughout.  

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One noteworthy quote came from Nadine Chakar, who stated that "collateral and liquidity are right at the top of the industry’s digital asset agenda".  Tonic couldn’t agree more with Nadine’s statement, as we’re playing an exciting and growing role in the digital collateral space.  

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At Tonic we’re working closely with our clients and partners to shape and launch brand-new digital collateral services and operating models. By leveraging tokenized assets and DLT settlement, we're bringing big benefits and cost savings to outdated, inefficient processes!  

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For that reason, the Collateral domain is a prime candidate for digital solutions.  

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The panel also validated several key Digital Asset assumptions, which are worth sharing for those newer to this domain:  

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• Don’t confuse ‘digital assets’ with crypto – within capital markets we are mainly focused on tokenised real-world assets.  

• Digital assets provide real value and cost reduction across the full trade lifecycle, by removing key process inefficiencies (such as manually intensive settlements and reconciliations). At Tonic, we are also focused on the inventory management and optimisation benefits triggered by real-time settlement, to reduce capital and funding costs.  

• Current digital asset use cases are mainly focused on the most inefficient and illiquid TradFi assets, such as alternatives and money market funds (MMFs).  

• Key regulatory drivers, such as T+1 settlement, especially in fragmented markets, further strengthen the transition towards digital assets.  

• Digital assets are key to protecting ‘asset integrity’ by holding high-value data that drives critical business decisions, such as ESG/carbon criteria.  

• Watch this space for pending industry solutions and operating models for digital assets that are expected to drive increased market adoption.  

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The Northern Trust Technology Symposium was a top event, at a great venue, providing valuable insights into the future of digital assets and financial technology.  

The focus was on the transformation of traditional processing and data to realise genuine value across the trade lifecycle, via efficiencies, cost savings and even revenue growth.  

Tonic is dedicated to helping our clients embrace digital innovation and unlock real value through digital transformation.  

Here at Tonic, we are driven by our deep domain and transformation expertise, combined with our hands-on experiences helping clients transition into the Digital world. Tonic understands both the TradFi and DeFi worlds deeply, allowing us to partner with clients to act as a natural bridge into the digital world.  

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Contact us for an informal chat on how we can support your organisation's digital journey.  

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