BNP Paribas has arranged and placed the first sovereign digital bond issuance for Eurozone and EMEA in the Republic of Slovenia.
The digital securities coupon had a nominal size of €30 million, at a rate of 3.65% and with final maturity due 25 November 2024. BNP Paribas was global coordinator and sole bookrunner, with Clifford Chance acting as advisor.
The issuance was completed through the European Central Bank’s (ECB) wholesale central bank money (CeBM) settlement experimentation programme, which uses a tokenised cash solution from the Banque de France.
Neobonds, BNP Paribas Global Markets’ private tokenisation platform, was used to issue the bond. The platform records legal ownership of digital bonds and offers an operational framework for the issuance and trading of digital bonds. Coupons are automatically generated and all lifecycle events, including secondary trading, are supported through the system.
BNP Paribas has stated that it will continue to participate in real transactions and experiments throughout the ECB’s programme, aiming to develop an understanding of CeBM settlement solutions from Banque de France, Deutsche Bundesbank and Banca d’Italia.
On the announcement, Frederic Zorzi, global head of primary markets at BNP Paribas CIB, commented: “BNP Paribas is committed to contributing to the Eurosystem-led wholesale digital settlement solutions that will make bond settlement more efficient and secure. We look forward to issuing more digital bonds with respective central banks’ solutions.”
Philippe Maillard, chief operating officer at 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.”
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