Last week Pascal Lauffer, CEO at Onbrane, was invited to present at the EMMEC meeting to 18 most influential bank treasurers in Europe. He shared Onbrane’s journey and success in leading money market digitalization across Europe. Here’s a summary of presentation and discussion around it, prepared by the EMMEC:
- Mr. Lauffer explained that while money market infrastructure functions, it is inefficient in the commercial paper (CP) and certificate of deposit (CD) markets. Additionally, the money market is largely restricted to large organizations, excluding much of the real economy—SMEs have no access.
- This inefficiency impacts all participants: issuers find that over 10% of transactions contain input errors, intermediaries spend more than 50% of their time on administrative tasks, and investors face limited visibility into the market. As a result, the CP/CD market restricts which issuers and investors can participate.
- Mr. Lauffer emphasized that all participants can benefit from increased efficiency by industrializing processes through technology. Onbrane aims to be the “One Money Market” (1MM) platform, bringing together market participants, democratizing price discovery, streamlining the entire process, and acting as a central interface for all stakeholders.
- Onbrane is a platform that believes finance evolves step by step, working collaboratively with market actors. It is open, adaptive to changing dynamics, and responsive to emerging needs. To date, the platform has facilitated over 900 deals and is doubling annually.
- A member asked about Onbrane’s data module and the information it provides. Mr. Lauffer explained that the data module is very much in demand as it gathers all market data available further enriched by Onbrane proprietary data. He then clarified that the platform displays aggregated data to different stakeholders. While available data is accessible to all platform users, non-public or sensitive name-specific information is not shared.
- Several members agreed that the CP market needs improvement. Mr. Lauffer noted that while Onbrane seeks to industrialize processes step by step, the long-term goal is to enable standardization, fostering market growth. Onbrane does not intend to compete with market participants; rather, it aims to be a technological enabler.
- One member inquired about Onbrane’s business model and ownership. Mr. Lauffer explained that platform users pay an annual fee, and Onbrane has been financed by angel investors rather than by market participants or business groups. He also mentioned that at this stage, it would make sense for a banking consortium or an industry market infrastructure provider to fund Onbrane’s rapid growth and join its governance.
- The link to Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) was also discussed. Mr. Lauffer clarified that while current execution is carried out traditionally, the platform is DLT-ready and is already running it in parallel mode for clients interested in participating in the blockchain experiment.
- To conclude, Mr. Lauffer looked ahead, noting that beyond modernizing money market infrastructure, Onbrane could play a key role in advancing the Capital Markets Union (CMU). As a platform connecting all actors and abstracting the complexity of domestic rules, regulations, and infrastructures, Onbrane could help realize the CMU for money markets, starting with the CP/CD market, within 3 to 5 years.
