Barclays, BBVA, Deutsche Boerse and Swift are among the financial services sector names to join a new collective promoting the development of a global framework for the development and adoption of distributed ledger technology.

More than 100 organisations from across different industries have signed up to the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (Inatba), which grew out of a series of forums held by the European Commission.

The signatories are developers, suppliers and users of blockchain technologies, ranging from giant corporations to DLT specialists such as Ripple and ConsenSys, all of which have committed to develop a "predictable, transparent and trust-based global framework".

Based in Brussels, Inatba will work towards the development and adoption of interoperability guidelines; promote an open, transparent and inclusive global model of governance for blockchain; and maintain a permanent dialogue with public authorities and regulators.

Carlos Kuchkovsky, CTO, new digital business, BBVA, says: "BBVA joins Inatba with the conviction that it is essential to forment collaboration among corporations, SMEs, startups, public institutions and regulators in order to create global standards that ensure interoperability among platforms and a clearer legal framework that encourages the adoption of distributed ledger technology and blockchain, so that everyone in society can take advantage of its benefits."