HM Treasury announced the six lead managers for the short dated digital gilt (DIGIT) pilot, which is expected to be issued by the first quarter of 2027. They are Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, and RBC Capital Markets, selected following a formal procurement process.
HSBC’s Orion distributed ledger platform was announced in February to host the issuance within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). Orion has supported issuances on behalf of at least two other governments, including Hong Kong, which used the platform for three digitally native issuances totaling $4.6 billion, and the Luxembourg State Treasury, which issued €50 million in digital treasury notes. The UK issuance could mark the first sovereign digital bond by a G7 nation. Hong Kong’s most recent deal was last week. Of the six DIGIT lead managers, only HSBC and Barclays were also on that transaction.
The DIGIT is expected to be listed on the London Stock Exchange main market. HSBC has signed an MoU with LSEG to link its Orion issuance platform with the LSEG B3 investor Digital Securities Depository (DSD).
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