BNP Paribas accompanies EIB in the digitalisation of capital markets with the issue of a fully digitally native Sterling-denominated bond issuance.
Having issued their first digital bond in April 2021, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is at the forefront of the blockchain technology market. On 31 January 2023, they issued their first ever Sterling-denominated digital bond using a combination of private and public blockchains, raising £50 million.
BNP Paribas acted as joint lead manager in the tokenised bond issuance.
The bond issuance process is using a combination of private and public blockchains operated and accessed via the HSBC Orion Platform, following the recently adopted Luxembourg legal framework tailored to allow for the issuance, transfer and custody of dematerialised securities on Distributed Ledge Technology (DLT) infrastructure.
The dematerialised digital bonds will be held in digital securities accounts kept on HSBC Orion platform, while BNP Paribas’ Securities Services Luxembourg branch – will act as custodian alongside RBC and HSBC for clients investing in the bond.
Aligning with BNP Paribas’ CIB digital strategy, we continue to explore the potential of DLT, namely blockchain technology in fixed-income issuance in a safe manner, looking to deliver operational efficiencies, enhanced security and increased transparency to our clients.
