Clearstream is to offer clients a choice between digital and tokenized issuance of securities with the launch of a blockchain-based system operating over Google Cloud.
The new platform, D7 DLT will be first rolled out into the international market and available to issuer clients of Clearstream Banking. The first expected issuances are commercial papers (CPs) and medium-term notes (MTNs), which benefit strongly from the speed of issuance, allowing treasurers to generate funding on an intraday basis.
Google Cloud, a strategic innovation partner of Clearstream owner Deutsche Börse Group, provides secure infrastructure, technical expertise, and cloud capacity.
Alongside streamlined issuance and lifecycle management, the plaform provides an immutable and transparent record of ownership and transactions and compatibility with existing market infrastructure
Jens Hachmeister, head of issuer services & new digital markets, comments: “ D7 is reinventing how securities are issued, managed, and traded, benefiting all market participants, providing the flexibility to choose between digital and tokenized issuance.”
D7 DLT’s launch follows successful experiments conducted as part of the European Central Bank (ECB) trials on the use of distributed ledger technology to settle wholesale transactions in central bank money in 2024. Hachmeister says the demonstration of the platform’s ability to manage both securities and central bank digital currency (CBDC) positions it for future innovations in programmable money.