Mizuho Financial Group Partners with Cognizant to Develop a Distributed Ledger Solution for More Efficient and Secure Trade Finance

Mizuho Financial Group Partners with Cognizant
to Develop a Distributed Ledger Solution for More Efficient and Secure Trade
Finance

SINGAPORE, April 26, 2017—Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today announced that it has
been selected by Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE: MFG, TYO: 8411), one of the largest
financial institutions in the world, to develop a distributed ledger solution
to make trade finance more efficient and secure.

Cognizant will use Corda, a distributed ledger
platform developed by R3, a consortium of the world’s largest financial
institutions, to digitize trade documents such as letters of credit and bills
of lading. This will provide Mizuho Financial Group and its customers with a
framework to explore the use of distributed ledger technology to reduce fraud,
delays and other business risks arising from costly paperwork, and provide
enhanced visibility to all parties involved in the trade and transport value
chain.

The engagement marks the expansion of a
strategic partnership between Mizuho Financial Group and Cognizant to leverage
distributed ledger technology for building new work processes to make
transactions and digital interactions more secure, efficient and
cost-effective, thereby delivering superior experience to customers.

  

“We are pleased to be the early adopters of
distributed ledger technology in Japan to power our processes and workflows,”
said Daisuke Yamada, Managing Executive Officer and Chief Digital Innovation
Officer of Mizuho Financial Group. “We continue to work aggressively towards
expanding the implementation of new technologies across the group in order to
provide better and advanced financial services to our customers. Cognizant’s
global financial services and digital transformation expertise complements our
vision and has opened additional avenues for us to tap the potential of
distributed ledger technology.” 

“Trade finance has been a major area of focus
for R3 and our members over the last year,” said David E Rutter, CEO of R3.
“Corda’s unique technology was developed specifically to address the type of
challenges this industry faces, making traditionally paper-based processes more
secure, cost-effective and efficient. It’s the only distributed ledger platform
built from the ground up in direct response to the specific pain points
encountered by market participants in areas such as trade financing.”

“Distributed ledger technology heralds a
significant opportunity for the financial services industry to create greater
trust and accountability,” said Prasad Chintamaneni, President of Global
Industries and Consulting at Cognizant. “We have developed comprehensive
capabilities over the years to be a trusted advisor in the fast-moving
distributed ledger market and are diligently investing in solutions that bring
together best-in-class technology with the full-suite of services necessary to
realize distributed ledger’s full potential. We are proud to be partners with
pioneering organizations such as Mizuho Financial Group in paving the way for
distributed ledger innovations of tomorrow.”

About Mizuho Financial Group

The Mizuho Financial Group is one of the largest
financial institutions in the world, offering a broad range of services
including banking, trust banking and securities, and other business related to
financial services through its group companies. The group has approximately
55,000 staff working in approximately 900 offices inside and outside Japan, and
total assets of over US $1.7 trillion (as of March 2016). Under the umbrella of
the holding company Mizuho Financial Group, the major group companies include
Mizuho Bank (MHBK), Mizuho Trust & Banking (MHTB) and Mizuho Securities
(MHSC). Visit us online atwww.mizuho-fg.co.jp.

About R3

R3 is leading a consortium with over 80 banks,
clearing houses, exchanges, market infrastructure providers, asset managers,
central banks, conduct regulators, trade associations, professional services
firms and technology companies to develop groundbreaking commercial
applications of distributed ledger technology for the financial services
industry.

Operating in nine countries from all regions of
the world, the R3 team is made up of financial industry veterans,
technologists, and new tech entrepreneurs, bringing together expertise from
electronic financial markets, cryptography and digital currencies. 

About Cognizant

Cognizant (NASDAQ-100: CTSH) is one of the
world’s leading professional services companies, transforming clients’
business, operating and technology models for the digital era. Our unique
industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run
more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant
is ranked 230 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most
admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with
digital at www.cognizant.com or follow us @Cognizant.