BRICS Clear

Main article: World Economy

History

2024

Blockchain and e-document investments: New details about the system

On October 23, 2024, details about the BRICS Clear depository system created by the BRICS countries appeared. The platform will be based on blockchain technologies, which will ensure a high level of security.

Information about the project, as reported by the Kommersant newspaper, was shared by the general director of the Consulting and Analytical Union Artem Genkin. According to him, the system being created will allow the BRICS countries to invest in each other's economies without risk: blockchain provides an advantage "to fix ownership of securities, transactions with them and the inability to subject records of them or transactions with them to any impact." Moreover, BRICS Clear will be available only to states that are part of the association.

𝓲

Bloomberg

Another feature of BRICS Clear will be the presence of several certification centers. The deal will be able to go through the system only if confirmation of this comes from all centers. This model will increase the security of operations.

In general, Genkin says, BRICS Clear solves several problems. For the member states of the association, it will facilitate access to the financial markets of other countries regardless of sanctions. In addition, new settlement mechanisms and digital tools will increase the volume of trade between the BRICS countries - by 5-7% annually. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov adds that the future BRICS investment platform should contribute to investment activities in countries with developing economies - using electronic tools. In turn, Alexey Petropolsky, manager of the Dialot investment company, notes that the BRICS Clear depository system does not completely exclude sanctions risks, but "such payments will definitely not be blocked."^[1]

Creation of a depository system

In October 2024, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced the start of work on the creation of the BRICS Clear depository system for the BRICS countries. The new system is designed to ensure the accounting of securities within the BRICS community and become an alternative to Western counterparts, access to which is limited for Russia and some other countries.

Siluanov in an interview with RT Arabic noted that BRICS Clear will be based on distributed registry technology. This decision was made in the context of the restrictions that Russia faced when working with Western securities accounting systems.

𝓲

russian.rt

In addition to the depository system, the BRICS countries are working on the creation of an alternative financial and settlement payment infrastructure. According to the minister, it will be formed on the basis of new technologies using digital financial assets. This will allow settlements for trade outside Western infrastructure, providing faster and cheaper payments.

The third area of ​ ​ cooperation between the BRICS countries in the financial sector is the creation of its own reinsurance company. Siluanov stressed the need to provide trade insurance services within the BRICS, regardless of political restrictions.

Initiatives to create new financial instruments within the BRICS arose against the background of difficulties with cross-border payments that Russia faced after the introduction of Western sanctions in 2022. In March 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the use of digital assets for cross-border payments.

It is expected that the details of the project to create a BRICS settlement and payment infrastructure will be presented at the summit of the unification countries, which will be held at the end of October in Kazan. This platform is designed to make payments in national currencies and cross-border transactions in digital currencies.^[2]

Notes