FinClear is preparing to break the ASX’s monopoly on crucial clearing and settlement services after the corporate regulator granted the Magellan Financial-backed infrastructure provider the first licences to allow shares in private companies to be traded using blockchain technology.

FinClear, which was founded in 2015 and provides share registry services for stockbrokers and private companies, said the new licences paved the way for it to break ASX’s monopoly, at a time the sharemarket operator is significantly behind in its own plans to replace a three-decade old post-trade services system.