Siemens has issued its second digital bond on blockchain rails in support of European Central Bank and Deutsche Bundesbank digital ledger trials.
The €300 bond issue was supported by DekaBank as registrar alongside investors BayernLB, DekaBank, DZ BANK, Helaba and LBBW. Deutsche Bank ensured settlement for Siemens in central bank money via the Bundesbank Trigger Solution.
Siemens says the new near-real time transaction built on last year’s first-time €60 million digital bond issuance, which required a two-day settlement period.
The securities transaction was settled via the private permissioned blockchain of Swiat, and the Bundesbank's Trigger Solution, making it possible to settle the bond for the first time in a fully automated manner, "within minutes", eliminating settlement risk for all parties.
Siemens treasurer Peter Rathgeb says: “Automated processing within a few minutes shows the enormous potential of this new technology and confirms our strategy of playing a leading role in continuously shaping the digital transformation. We are proud to be an active driver of further developments in this area and of the further digitalization of the capital markets."