Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Spa (CDP) issued a €25 million digital bond on the Polygon public blockchain, which was underwritten by Intesa Sanpaolo as the sole investor. The issuance is part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) wholesale DLT settlement trials. Hence, the payment was made in central bank money using the Bank of Italy’s TIPS Hash Link solution, which provides connectivity between a DLT and the TIPS payment system.
CDP is a development bank majority owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The settlement of a public blockchain bond issuance with central bank money wasn’t the only novel aspect of the digital bond. It is also the first to use Italy’s ‘Fintech decree’ law. This was Italy’s enactment of the DLT Pilot Regime, but also applies to DLT issuances that are not part of the Pilot Regime (like this one), provided they take some extra steps. There must be a Digital Register maintained by a Digital Register Manager which is authorized by Consob, Italy’s securities regulator. The Register is a log of the real names and details of the owners of the securities.
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