Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Standard Chartered Bank on its issuance of US$200 million Floating Rate Digitally Native Notes due 2029 through Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI) platform.
The transaction marks a significant milestone for the UK debt capital markets as the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) and the first UK Issuer to issue on Euroclear’s D-FMI platform. It demonstrates the increasing maturity of digital securities infrastructure and the ability of established capital markets participants to bring distributed ledger technology into mainstream issuance, settlement and post-trade processes.
The notes have been issued as digitally native notes on Euroclear’s D-FMI platform, Euroclear’s distributed ledger technology-based infrastructure for digital securities issuance, and application has been made to list the notes on the International Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange. The transaction showcases how digital market infrastructure can support the issuance and settlement of international debt securities while preserving access to established market infrastructure and familiar investor-facing processes.
The issuance represents an important step in the development of the UK digital securities market. It follows a series of international digital bond transactions and highlights the growing role of English law, English issuers and UK market participants in the evolution of digital capital markets.
Matteo Sbraga, Partner at Clifford Chance, said:
“This is precisely the kind of transaction that moves digital bonds from innovation lab to live capital markets infrastructure. It shows that an English company can issue a native digital bond using established legal techniques, established market participants and next-generation settlement technology.”
Clifford Chance advised Standard Chartered Bank on the legal structuring, documentation and execution of the transaction, drawing on its market-leading experience in digital bonds and international debt capital markets.
The cross-border Clifford Chance team was led by London debt capital markets partner Matteo Sbraga, supported by counsel Alex Tollast and associates Simina Sovi and Chantal Olavesen. The wider team included specialists from the London financial regulation team, partners Diego Ballon Ossio and Caroline Dawson and senior associate Meera Ragha, the UK tax team, partner Cameron Dwyer and associate Stefaniya Yakubova, and the US tax team, partner Avrohom Gelber and associate Milica Pavlovic.
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