Caisse des Dépôts announced its completed its first digitally native bond issue on the French capital market. This issue was placed with ICBC Luxembourg Branch, acting as an investor in this transaction. The issuance of the digitally native bonds for an amount of €100 million due on 7 November 2034 by Caisse des Dépôts was carried out via the digital financial markets infrastructure (D-FMI), a component of the securities settlement system operated by Euroclear based on distributed ledger technology, for the creation of the digitally native bonds, and the distributed ledger technology of the Banque de France (DL3S), for the settlement part of the issuance.
The transaction was arranged and the digitally native bonds placed by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking. The digitally native bonds are admitted to trading on the regulated market of Euronext Paris and are rated AA- by S&P. BNP Paribas is the issuing and paying agent for this issuance and Clifford Chance is the legal advisor for the transaction.
The issue was carried out as part of the Eurosystem’s exploratory work and constitutes the first issue of digitally native bonds subject to French law via the D-FMI, the first issue of digitally native bonds using the interconnectivity between the D-FMI and DL3S, the first issue of digitally native bonds by Caisse des Dépôts and the first issue of digitally native bonds admitted to listing on Euronext Paris.
“The challenges of financial and digital sovereignty are one of the 3 strategic axes for the Caisse des Dépôts Group, along with those around the TEE and social and territorial cohesion”, said Nathalie Tubiana, director of Finance and Sustainable Policy of the Caisse des Dépôts Group, in a statement. “It is in this sense that we wanted to participate in this digital issue, a pioneering operation on the capital market in France, to support the players in the sector working around Euroclear and the Banque de France. This issue thus demonstrates the Caisse des Dépôts’ capacity for adaptation and innovation, which its teams have always demonstrated.”
“Choosing the Banque de France’s full DLT interoperability solution for the settlement of the cash portion of this issue underlines the importance of tokenized Central Bank Currency for the development of the tokenization of finance. The operation, carried out under the framework of the CSDR, has enabled the Banque de France to enrich its connectivity solutions by implementing a new interoperability link between the two DLTs, in addition to the HTLC and SWIFT protocols,” said Emmanuelle Assouan, director general of Financial Stability and Operations at the Banque de France, in a statement.
“It is crucial that participants, financial market infrastructures and central banks work together to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital asset securities. By leveraging our expertise in settlement and post-trade services, we are working to develop efficient, resilient and interoperable digital infrastructures. Our commitment to innovation will continue to unlock new business opportunities and connect issuers and investors globally,” said Sebastien Danloy, chief business officer at Euroclear, in a statement.
“Crédit Agricole CIB is proud to act as arranger in this first Digital issuance for the CDC, in partnership with Euroclear and the Banque de France. This initiative marks a major step in the development of the French digital bond ecosystem and confirms Crédit Agricole CIB’s determination to support the adoption of new technologies for SSA clients,” said Benjamin Moulle, global head of SSA Primary at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, in a statement.
“Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking’s participation in this experiment comes from a strategic desire to strengthen our skills in tokenization and wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency. The lessons learned from this initiative will allow us to better serve our clients, consolidate our market position and contribute to the overall advancement of the financial ecosystem,” said Gabriel Levy, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets at Natixis CIB.
“This new experimentation on the European Central Bank’s interbank central bank digital currency (CBDC). Participating in this digital bond issue as an issuing and paying agent allows us to develop our expertise in technology and financial instruments. It is essential for us to build future solutions to support our clients and meet their changing needs,” says Bruno Campenon, Head of Financial Intermediary Services, Securities Services at BNP Paribas.
Source (French, machine-translated by Google)