The first issue of a regulated bond with “blockchain” in Spain was carried out by BBVA, BME and IDBwhich will be able to launch future broadcasts in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean.
It is a bond listed on a regulated market developed by ioBuilders.
BBVABME, IDB and ioBuilders have been working since last February on this pioneering project consisting in developing a “blockchain” platform which allows the registration, secondary trading and management of the life cycle of a bond issued on a regulated market.
“Smart contracts” have been used for the execution of distribution, sale, liquidation and corporate event processes, using tokenized electronic money by BBVA for cash management throughout the life of the issue.
This project was led and managed by BME and your technology partner ioBuilders (for the development of the blockchain platform). It is part of the LACChain alliance, an IDB initiative to accelerate the use of “blockchain” technology with development impact and will allow BBVA export technology in Latin America, where access to alternative financing for projects is more limited. The OFFER was advised by scrubland.
BBVAin addition to being an e-money tokenizer, played various critical roles, acting as the digital custodian, digital arranger and “active bookrunner” of the operation. Town was the agent entity and the bond investors were Iberdrola and Renta 4.
Jesus Benedict, CEO of Iberclear, explains that “this issue is yet another demonstration of BME’s spirit of innovation, which is constantly looking for improvements through technologies such as ‘blockchain’, to continue being the protagonists of digitization and the modernization of financial market”.
With this issue, BBVA builds, with real and production operations, its strategy of digital assets in the financial markets.
Regina Gill, global credit manager at BBVA, explains: “We wanted to assess whether blockchain transactions could be executed with the current market infrastructure at the commercial level and the interconnectivity of the system for subscribers and institutional investors. This pilot reduces the cost and time of transmission, which opens up opportunities for small transmitters and for less developed economies”.
Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of BID Labstresses that: “Beyond the technological aspect, the creation of this link could represent a Economic impact and very strong social transformator. In fact, we expect it to produce such significant reductions in issuance frictions and costs that it could lead to an expansion of capital markets, making it accessible to retail investors. For the IDB Group, it is also a basis for future developments to finance green investments, female entrepreneurship and social impact, of high strategic interest.
Gustavo DeRose, IDB Vice President and Chief Financial Officersaid: “We are very pleased to participate as an issuer in this pilot project and we thank BME, BBVA and ioBuilders. Through the Bank’s Treasury, we seek to continuously innovate, exploring new financial instruments and services that advance the social and economic development agenda of our member countries. The rapid growth we’ve seen in the use of “blockchain” technology and “smart contracts” is testament to the potential that this technology has in terms of transparency, programmability and redundancy in financial transactions”.
BME’s commitment to developing new solutions for investors
The first issuance of a bond in production with technology “block chainis part of the strategy of the SIX group, to which BME belongs, to design the future of market infrastructures”.
This project reaffirms the commitment of BME with the development of new solutions for investors, which streamline processes and maintain the same level of control, transparency and security typical of regulated financial markets.