Frankfurt-based Deutsche Börse, the company behind the world’s ninth largest stock exchange, wants to invest 270 million euro in projects and tools related to blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, cloud computing, and robotics. The move is part of its Roadmap 2020 strategy, which was presented on Wednesday. To achieve this, the company will cut 350 jobs. Currently, Deutsche Börse has over 5,200 employees.
According to the plan, the German company will divide its business into nine separate divisions to streamline its operations. During the massive restructuring, Deutsche Börse will terminate 50 management jobs. The company expects that the overhaul would cut structural costs by about 100 million euro by 2020. One-off costs for the initiative will reach 200 million euro.
The savings will allow the company to accumulate funds to invest in innovative technologies. Deutsche Börse wants to create new jobs oriented to emerging technologies and plans to invest nearly 300 million euro in these.
Deutsche Börse CEO Theodor Weimer said:
“Deutsche Börse is preparing itself for the future and for further growth in the best manner possible. We will be focusing even more consistently on the scalability of our business model and on enhancing our operational processes. Overall, this will make us faster and more efficient.”
The roadmap is structured into three key areas, with the third core element touching upon investments in four disruptive technologies: blockchain, big data analyses, cloud computing, and AI plus robotics.
“Deutsche Börse plans to leverage blockchain technology to explore new lines of business, yielding corresponding profits,” the company said.
The company’s executive board will also be updated, with Thomas Book and Stephan Leithner scheduled to join on 1 July 2018, and Christoph Böhm, who’s currently CIO and COO, set to join on 1 November 2018. The board will be extended from five to six members.
Deutsche Börse is not the first major exchange to bet on blockchain. Last year, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) said that it would implement the technology to handle securities transaction clearing and settlement and to register shareholdings. ASX will fully replace its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) with a blockchain platform.
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