Nasdaq Baltic to adopt shareholder e-voting based on Estonian e-residency platform
Nasdaq and the Estonian state announced that Estonia's e-residency platform will be facilitating a blockchain-based e-voting service. This will allow shareholders of companies listed on Nasdaq's Tallinn stock exchange to vote in meetings without being physically present.
As part of a pilot program, Estonian nationals and e-residents will be able to participate in the corporate governance of companies more conveniently and securely than ever before, Nasdaq said.
The e-residency platform vastly improves the authentication of shareholders for the e-voting service, while blockchain technology will allow votes to be quick and securely recorded, replacing voting by proxy, which has been labor-intensive and fragmented. The program is set to start in 2016.
"I'm delighted Nasdaq will use the e-residency platform to offer shareholders a new e-voting system," said Kaspar Korjus, program director of the e-residency project. "When we started the e-residency a year ago, we knew we would change the way people think about nations and citizenship. Now, via our e-voting collaboration with Nasdaq, we will be revolutionizing corporate governance," he added.
"On the heels of the successful execution of a blockchain transaction in the US private market, we are pleased to further advance this technology in Estonia," Hans-Ole Jochumsen, president of Nasdaq, said.
"Estonia's robust information society and forward thinking, coupled with the agility its size affords, creates a unique opportunity to premiere the e-voting pilot in Estonia. We're excited to see the development of this project over the coming months, and are looking forward to working closely with the government of Estonia to set a transformative example of the future of governance," he added.
The program marks Nasdaq's second blockchain project after Nasdaq Linq, its own blockchain-enabled platform.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn