R3, an enterprise-focused permissed blockchain provider, is reporting that its Corda technology has enabled the first digital bond issuance on Euroclear’s International Central Securities Depository (ICSD).
The SSA, or “supranational, sovereign and agency bond,” was issued by the World Bank, with Citi (an investor in R3) acting as issuer agent and TD Securities acting as dealer. The issuance took place under UK law and was successfully completed yesterday, October 23, 2023. The digital bond was described as a major development in Euroclear’s ongoing Distributed Financial Market Infrastructure (DFMI) initiative.
David E. Rutter, CEO and founder of R3, said the issuance was not a “sandbox” but a live issuance demonstrating what distributed ledger technology can achieve.
“FMI’s such as Euroclear play a critical role in the financial ecosystem. We’re working with them and central banks in areas such as securities settlement to improve how we communicate and exchange value, ultimately to deliver a better, more efficient, open, trusted and enduring digital economy. This is about bringing participants and ecosystems together to modernize mission-critical processes in the capital markets industry. Corda is emerging as the technology of choice because it was designed for regulated markets from the ground-up, ensuring resiliency, governance, scalability and security,” said Rutter.
Euroclear Chief Digital Officer Antonio Queiroz said the offering was a major milestone, and they are excited to continue and build upon the R3 partnership to drive digital transformation within their industry.
