UOB has become the first bank in Singapore to run its latest bond offering using a distributed ledger platform developed by Singapore Exchange and Temasek.
Marketnode, a joint venture between Singapore Exchange and Temasek, is a digital asset venture focused on capital markets workflows through smart contracts, ledger and tokenisation technologies.
The venture was formed following a successful collaboration between SGX, Temasek and HSBC which culminated with the issuance of Asia’s first public syndicated digital bond for Olam International in August 2020. In all, SGX’s digital asset issuance, depository and servicing platform was used to issue four digital bonds by several issuers, with a total size of over S$1 billion.
The platform connects various parties involved in the transaction - from issuers to investors - and tokenises the capital security, creating a basis for the drawing of smart contracts.
UOB intends to run a pilot transaction for its latest non-call seven-year additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital securities offering. The digital bond is run in parallel with the conventional issuance process.
Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and chief executive officer, UOB, comments: “We are pleased to be the first financial institution to support Marketnode’s exchange-led network in our dual role as a major Singapore dollar bond issuer and bond house. As more global issuers and investors come on board and participate in Singapore’s digital capital markets, we will see further strengthening of Singapore’s status as the region’s financial hub.”