Chainlink Enables Banks to Transact On-Chain Securely and Seamlessly

Fernando Vázquez, President of Capital Markets at Chainlink, discusses how the company is revolutionising capital markets by enabling banks to transact on-chain — securely, compliantly, and without overhauling legacy systems.

Through Chainlink’s integration with SWIFT messages, institutions can now initiate blockchain-based transactions seamlessly within their existing infrastructure. “We allowed participants to transact on-chain without changing their back-office systems,” Vázquez explains. This marks a major step toward scalable blockchain adoption in traditional finance, allowing banks to embrace tokenisation and digital asset movement while maintaining operational continuity.

A critical focus for Chainlink is ensuring compliance, identity, and privacy within distributed ledger technology (DLT). Unlike DeFi’s open, pseudonymous transactions, institutional finance requires robust KYC, AML, and data protection. Chainlink’s runtime environment includes built-in identity and privacy overlays, helping banks uphold regulatory standards while benefiting from blockchain’s transparency and speed.

One major challenge for global on-chain transactions is legal interoperability — ensuring that cross-border asset transfers adhere to differing legal frameworks. Chainlink is working with regulators worldwide to define jurisdictional taxonomies and develop standardised legal wrappers, eliminating friction in global liquidity flows.

To manage the growing data complexity in a DLT-enabled world, Chainlink has also introduced ACE (Automated Compliance Engine), an AI-powered tool designed to automate compliance tasks, validate white papers, ensure MiCA alignment, and streamline tax and reporting processes. “As we automate, we bring more utility,” says Vázquez, “but also more complexity — and that’s where AI comes in.”

Chainlink’s approach is not about disruption but empowering evolution. Its Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE) allows banks and financial institutions to connect seamlessly to blockchain networks using existing SWIFT messages, bridging the gap between legacy systems and decentralised innovation.

By combining interoperability, compliance automation, and AI, Chainlink is laying the foundation for the next phase of institutional blockchain adoption — one that is secure, scalable, and regulatorily sound.