With its new digital bond, Siemens supports the tests by European Central Bank (ECB) of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the settlement of securities with central bank money
The bond has a volume of €300 million and a maturity of one year
Siemens thus remains a pioneer in the ongoing digitalization of the capital and securities markets
Siemens has again issued a digital bond in accordance with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act (Gesetz über elektronische Wertpapiere, eWpG). Following the successful issuance of its first digital bond last year, the company is thus continuing to play a pioneering role in the application of the latest technologies on the capital markets. By using blockchain technology once again, Siemens is underscoring its claim to continuously develop digital solutions for the financial markets. In issuing the bond, the company is supporting the trials by the Eurosystem and the Bundesbank in particular, that are aimed at testing blockchain technology for the digital financial market.
“Since the successful issuance of our first digital bond on a blockchain, we have been rigorously focusing on the further development of this forward-looking technology. By issuing another digital bond, we are demonstrating once again our spirit of innovation and underscoring our aim to continuously drive digital solutions for the financial markets. Siemens remains a pioneer in the application of the latest technologies on the capital and securities markets,” said Ralf P. Thomas, Chief Financial Officer of Siemens AG.
“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. Thanks to our successful collaboration with our project partners, we have reached another key milestone,” added Peter Rathgeb, Corporate Treasurer of Siemens AG.
The current bond has a volume of €300 million and a maturity of one year. The securities transaction was settled via the private permissioned blockchain of SWIAT, and the Trigger Solution provided by the Bundesbank, making it possible to settle a Siemens bond for the first time in a fully automated manner, within minutes and in central bank money. In the transaction, Siemens leveraged its valuable experience with last year’s first-time €60 million digital bond issuance, which had still required a two-day settlement period. As a result, this time the settlement risk was almost fully eliminated for all parties involved.
DekaBank acted as bond registrar for the transaction. BayernLB, DekaBank, DZ BANK, Helaba and LBBW invested in the securities. Deutsche Bank ensured settlement for Siemens in central bank money via the Bundesbank Trigger Solution.