Global financial service provider BNP Paribas has helped arrange and settle the first-ever sovereign digital bond issuance inside the Eurozone with the Republic of Slovenia.
The tokenisation process saw the issuance of €30m via an on-chain settlement that was performed via BNP Paribas’ private tokenisation platform Neobonds, which provides legal ownership of digital bonds.
Neobonds also provides an operational framework for issuing and trading digital bonds, automatically generating coupons and supporting all lifecycle events, including secondary trading.
The digital bond was also facilitated by Banque de France’s tokenised cash solution in connection with the European Central Bank’s wholesale central bank money experimentation programme.
Robinson Rouchié, CIO SQI of BNP Paribas Asset Management, stated: “The issuance and placement of the first Eurozone Sovereign Digital bond marks a significant milestone in the financial industry, and we are extremely happy to contribute to this innovative step forward.
“Our participation underscores our commitment to embracing new technologies and pioneering change within the asset management sector.”
This latest tokenised digital bond transaction follows on from a similar action performed by Italian banks Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CDP) and Intesa Sanpaolo, a €25m digital bond using the Ethereum-backed Polygon.
These two most recent tokenised transactions lean into the European Central Bank’s exploration of tokenising real-world assets alongside blockchain and other digital assets.
BNP Paribas intends to participate in further transactions as part of the ECB’s tokenisation programme, aiming to work with wholesale transaction solutions from the likes of Banque de France, Deutsche Bundesbank and Banca d’Italia.
Philippe Maillard, COO of BNP Paribas CIB, added: “This transaction marks a significant step forward in the Bank’s digital transformation journey and was made possible by leveraging the strength of BNP Paribas’ integrated and diversified model across business lines, including Global Markets, ALM Treasury, Securities Services, FIC Official Institutions Coverage and BNP Paribas Asset Management.”
