Citi’s Issuer Services, a part of Securities Services, acted as the Issuing and Paying Agent for the first Digitally Native Note (DNN) issuance under English Law via Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI) distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. The €100 million ($106.2mn) 3-year DNN was issued by the World Bank – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) – (rated Aaa/AAA) and listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
The creation and settlement of DNNs on a T0 basis is an important first step in the evolution of bonds and lays the foundations for a fully digital end to end transaction lifecycle.
This partnership between existing key industry stakeholders provides a scalable model that delivers the benefits of digitization whilst preserving existing bond accessibility and liquidity, illustrating how blockchain technology can be integrated with existing capital markets architecture. Today is the culmination of a multi-year program with stakeholders including Citi, Euroclear and IBRD to deliver a sustainable digital infrastructure for the issuance of DNNs. It is envisaged that the D-FMI will improve efficiency and growth opportunities for debt capital market participants as the infrastructure continues to develop.
Andrew Mulley, EMEA head of Citi’s Issuer Services, said in a statement that the digital issuance “demonstrates the continued value of the international issuance model and its potential to transform the way in which the debt capital markets operate.”
“This initiative perfectly aligns to our mission of connecting our clients into new digital networks that enable them to create, or invest in, digital assets to unlock new efficiency, value and operating models” said Ryan Marsh, global head of Blockchain, Digital Assets & Innovation for Citi Securities Services, in a statement. “This is the latest in a series of digital bond initiatives that we expect to participate in.”
Lieve Mostrey, Euroclear Group CEO, said in a statement: “Our collaborations with Citi, TD Securities and the IBRD have been instrumental in the launch of this major innovation in asset issuance. The integration of our distributed ledger technology capabilities marks a significant milestone in the digital transformation of our global financial markets.”
“Since the World Bank’s first blockchain bond “bond-i”, debt capital markets have been moving towards digitization, step-by-step. We are pleased to announce that today we contributed to this ongoing development through issuing the inaugural digital native note on Euroclear’s D-FMI platform, working together with Citibank and others,” said Jorge Familiar, vice president and treasurer at the World Bank.