Four of Brazil’s financial regulatory agencies are working cooperatively to create a blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-enabled data-sharing platform, which will conduct background checks on the nation’s political representatives and private corporations.
The platform, called PIER, was reportedly created by the country’s reserve bank, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB).
The blockchain-powered solution has seen active participation from the BCB, the nation’s private insurance superintendent, and the Brazilian securities regulator. The country’s social security supervisor is also planning to participate in the nationwide program.
Brazil’s government is also considering adding other information to the PIER system, including data provided by the judiciary, trade boards, and various local financial organizations.
Daniel Bichuette, deputy head of the BCB’s financial system organization unit, noted that the streamlining of inter-departmental data should significantly reduce the time needed to assess the financial background of individuals and other domestic organizations.
Brazilian institutions that query the PIER database will be able to gain quick access to information, which will include data related to “punitive processes and restrictions from companies and administrators,” an organization’s “history of performance in the financial system” (including its technical expertise and business conduct), and “information on the participation of individuals and legal entities in the share capital and shareholding control.”
Adalberto Felinto da Cruz Júnior, executive secretary at the nation’s reserve bank, said that the partnership is a “particularly fruitful” initiative that has led to the creation of “important synergies” between the participating regulatory organizations.
Eduardo Weller, a software developer working with the BCB, revealed that using blockchain or DLT for PIER enables the utilization of a decentralized, proven technology, whose “native functionalities” mean that you don’t have to build everything from scratch.
Weller added that the digital signatures should guarantee the integrity and authenticity of messages being exchanged. It will also ensure the “integrity of data recorded,” and will eliminate a single point of failure and central body that may “defraud data.”
PIER has been in development for around two years. It was formally introduced by Brazil’s reserve bank back in mid-2018.