Thomson Reuters has joined the blockchain consortium run by New York-based startup R3, becoming the first information provider to join the more than 50-strong group of big banks and other finance-sector firms looking to develop distributed ledger technology.

The financial data giant, whose membership of the R3 consortium was announced on August 2, aims to contribute its expertise to help develop products using distributed ledger technology in areas such as know-your-customer, trade finance and post-trade settlement, according to Mark Rodrigues, Thomson Reuters managing director, strategic customers and solutions.