The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has successfully issued its first digitally native note (DNN) on Euroclear’s digital financial market infrastructure (D-FMI) platform, raising $300m, said the post trade services provider is a press statement on Friday 22 August 2024. Euroclear noted that this marks the inaugural digital issuance in USD for Euroclear and the first by an Asia-based issuer on the platform. The issuance was facilitated by BMO Capital Markets and Citi, with Citi also serving as the issuing and paying agent.
The AIIB’s DNN was executed through Euroclear’s digital securities issuance (D-SI) service, which supported the issuance, distribution and settlement of fully digital international securities using distributed ledger technology (DLT). The note, rated AAA by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The bonds were also cleared on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s central moneymarkets unit (CMU) and Six Swiss Exchange.
Philippe Laurensy, managing director and head of product, strategy and innovation at Euroclear, commented that the issuance marked a significant step forward in Euroclear’s journey towards becoming a digital, data-enabled financial market infrastructure. He emphasised Euroclear’s commitment to embracing innovation and delivering technology solutions that unlock new business opportunities and attract global issuers and investors.
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The AIIB, a multilateral development bank with a mission to finance sustainable infrastructure in Asia and beyond, highlighted its collaboration with Euroclear, Citi and BMO on this milestone transaction. Domenico Nardelli, AIIB treasurer, noted that the transaction’s success demonstrated Euroclear’s D-FMI platform’s capacity for broad adoption of digital bonds, enabling market participants to trade bonds within their existing account structures. He highlighted AIIB’s commitment to participating in the digitisation of capital markets and fostering connections between Asia and the world.
Richard Zogheb, head of global debt capital markets at Citi, stated that the transaction reflected the growing adoption of digital assets in financial markets. Citi’s involvement leveraged its interconnected businesses to support clients throughout the transaction lifecycle, from execution to settlement.
BMO Capital Markets also played a key role in the transaction, with Summer Hinton, head of global markets international, noting the importance of digitalisation in enhancing efficiency and resilience within the financial industry. She highlighted BMO’s commitment to innovation in debt capital markets and the scalability of digital solutions in the future.