A credit rating agency owned by a global financial services firm recently provided new details on its blockchain initiatives, including efforts to publish its credit ratings on the Ethereum network to ensure that the ratings cannot be altered or corrupted. In a separate development, according to reports, a Los Angeles-based investment and asset management firm is seeking to offer the world's first cryptocurrency derivatives-based yield fund, with the digital assets division of a leading financial services company providing custody for the fund.

According to reports, a blockchain-focused subsidiary of Switzerland's primary stock exchange has organized a global consortium of banks, buyside firms and market infrastructure providers to back an initial digital offering for a fully regulated central securities depository (CSD) for digital assets. The launch of the CSD still faces issues related to custody solutions and connectivity to settlement and central money solutions. The same entity is poised to launch a new exchange-traded product with a combination of bitcoin and ether that will enable Swiss investors to add the popular cryptocurrencies to their portfolios.

Last week, Harbor Square Investments, a subsidiary of tokenized securities platform Harbor, was granted a broker dealer license by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Harbor's newly granted license allows it to move forward with its plans to become a "one stop shop" for digital issuers – helping manage the process from fundraising to liquidity.

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