Compliance software provider Accuity has partnered with R3 to integrate its financial crime screening tools with the Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform.

It is Accuity’s first foray into blockchain, and it will mean that those who are licensed to use its software will be able to screen transactions conducted on Corda without leaving the platform.

An ‘oracle node’ has been developed which can be activated by Corda users to screen transactions for compliance with areas such as the EU fourth anti-money laundering directive, the USA patriot act, as well as regulatory guidelines from the US’ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

“This means customers working on DLT won’t have to take transactions outside DLT and screen them separately,” Bharath Vellore, product innovation manager at Accuity, tells GTR.

The node was developed in Singapore, where Accuity have been working on blockchain for some time. The company chose to launch with R3 because the “partner ecosystem is already in place”, meaning they are able to bounce ideas from banking clients who are also members of the R3 consortium.

However, Vellore confirms that Accuity is also studying developments on Ethereum and Hyperleger with a view to developing on those platforms too.

It is ready to use, but the company is still ironing out the details of a licensing model, Vellore says. However, the solution will likely see commercial use in line with the production phase of blockchain for trade finance, which is expected in 2018.

The past two years have been dominated by proof of concepts (POCs), but a number of banks in Asia have told Vellore that they expect to migrate certain aspects of their operations to DLT next year.

R3 for its part has been very keen to ensure that its Corda system meets regulatory requirements. Enabling banks to use Accuity software on DLT may offer peace of mind about the system’s security.

“KYC and AML compliance is a key regulatory requirement for financial transactions. Accuity is the known market leader in the area of financial crime compliance screening. We look forward to leveraging our combined expertise to address solutions in this space,” says Todd McDonald, co-founder of R3, in a statement.

R3 has been announcing a flurry of partnerships in recent days and weeks. The most recent was with trade finance digitisation company Bolero, which partnered with R3 to redesign its electronic bill of lading on blockchain.

It is also working with a 13-bank consortium to design a prototype that will process sight letters of credit, partnering with fintech startup TradeIX and 12 banks on an open account trade finance platform as well as building a blockchain-powered syndication marketplace, with Finastra and seven banks.