South America's biggest stock exchange operator has joined the R3 distributed ledger consortium.

BM&F Bovespa, based in Brazil, announced today that it is now part of the effort, launched last September. The news comes as more financial institutions and startups in the Latin American region and around the globe begin to experiment with the technology.

Fabio Dutra, business development managing director for BM&F Bovespa, said in a statement that the company is looking to "future-proof" its markets by exploring use cases for the technology.

Dutra said:

While it's unclear what aspects of the technology BM&F Bovespa would look to integrate, recent news that the company is beefing up its market surveillance efforts indicates it could have an interest in mechanisms for increasing transparency.

The exchange, which traces its origins back to the 1890s, has spent much of the past year growing its footprint within Latin America as a major destination for stock activity. 

Its decision to join R3 follows the addition of insurance giant MetLife and Chinese financial institution China Merchants Bank in recent weeks.

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