Standard Chartered has become the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) and the first UK issuer to issue digitally native notes (DNNs) on Euroclear's Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI), the bank announced on August 20, 2026.

The transaction consists of USD 200 million in three-year floating-rate notes, issued using distributed ledger technology (DLT) through Euroclear's D-FMI. The platform enables the issuance of digital international securities within a regulated market infrastructure while retaining connectivity to existing issuance, settlement and servicing systems. Digitally native notes are issued and recorded directly on the distributed ledger from the outset, rather than existing as digital representations of securities first created in conventional form.

Standard Chartered served as sole dealer for the offering, and an application has been made to admit the notes to trading on the International Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Euroclear, based in Brussels, is one of the world's largest international central securities depositories, providing settlement, custody and related post-trade services. The G-SIB designation is assigned by the Financial Stability Board to banks whose distress or failure could pose a risk to the global financial system; Standard Chartered, the London-based international bank, is among the institutions on that list. DLT-based debt issuance has been building across established market infrastructure for several years, from the European Investment Bank's early digital bonds in 2021 to digital bond listings on Switzerland's SIX Digital Exchange and venues authorised under the European Union's DLT Pilot Regime, in application since March 2023. In the UK, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have established a digital securities sandbox to test DLT-based issuance and settlement within existing legal frameworks.

According to the bank, the deal represents a step forward in the development of digital capital markets, showing how distributed ledger technology can operate alongside established infrastructure to improve issuance efficiency. The transaction also extends Standard Chartered's prior experience advising clients on digital bond deals to its own funding operations.

Vikash Mistry, Deputy Group Treasurer at Standard Chartered, said the transaction reflects the bank's effort to modernise its funding capabilities while maintaining ties to trusted international infrastructure.

Ankur Prakash, Head of Digital and Strategic Initiatives for Global Banking, said the issuance signals broader institutional movement toward adopting digital capital markets infrastructure. Sebastien Danloy, Chief Business Officer at Euroclear, added that the deal illustrates how digital issuance can integrate with existing liquidity channels and regulatory frameworks.

Standard Chartered has previously supported similar digital bond transactions, including for Emirates NBD and Doha Bank. As the first such deal by a G-SIB, the issuance provides a reference point for other systemically important banks weighing digital-native funding; whether further large issuers follow onto regulated digital infrastructure, and how UK and EU rules for DLT-based settlement develop, are among the markers market participants track as digital capital markets mature.

Source: LeapRate