BME, a SIX Company, announced its investment in OpenBrick, a digital platform for the issuance, management, trading, and settlement of tokenized securities linked to real estate projects. Six Group operates the Swiss Stock Exchange.
Grupo Lar, Renta 4 Banco, and ioBuilders established the firm, which welcomes BME, Garrigues, and Teras Capital as partners.
OpenBrick has developed a platform using blockchain tech to connect issuers, investors, and financial intermediaries with a “range of real estate projects (residential, accommodation, offices, commercial, logistics, etc.), whose negotiable securities can be acquired in a primary market and subsequently traded in a secondary market, providing liquidity to each investment portfolio.”
The market will reportedly act as a non-bank financing channel, in which different real estate players (developers, management companies, operators, etc.) will be able to “obtain funds to develop projects more rapidly and at lower cost compared to traditional financing channels.”
This company’s added value is based on the integration of blockchain technology in a market specialized in the real estate sector. This allows raising funds through the “issuance of equity or debt instruments in a faster and more efficient way.”
Specifically, OpenBrick will launch its first project with Alquiler Seguro “for the purchase and rental of homes in the Madrid region.”
OpenBrick received a “favorable” pre-assessment for admission to the CNMV Sandbox in February 2023 and, via BME, expects to “obtain the EU license to operate in 2025.”
BME, via the Spanish Central Securities Depository (Iberclear), will assume the role of platform operator and will be the entity “in charge of managing the trading and settlement system with DLT technology (SNL) under the EU Pilot Regime.”
Javier Hernani, Head of Securities Services and Member of SIX’s Executive Board, said that with this investment, SIX will position itself as a major player in the EU’s digital agenda and in the “evolution of financial markets.”
Hernani added that this investment is part of SIX’ commitment to play a leading role in the future of financial markets by “entering new assets and exploring the options of innovative technologies such as DLT.” They further noted that in this case, applied to the real estate sector, which is “traditionally highly valued by investors in Spain. Furthermore, they are investing alongside highly reputable partners in each of their respective sectors, so we are convinced that this is the first step of a long and successful journey.”
This initiative reinforces SIX’s digital assets strategy and complements SDX, the regulated digital securities exchange and central securities depository (CSD), part of SIX Group, home of the Swiss National Bank Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC) pilot.
Carlos Matilla, CEO of OpenBrick, highlights that ‘OpenBrick facilitates financing through tokenization, offering a new marketplace as “a source of agile financing for different real estate players and reducing entry barriers for people interested in investing in the sector.”