Siemens Issues €300m Digital Bond via Blockchain for Real-time Settlement
German engineering and technology giant Siemens has achieved another feat in the realm of financial technology through the issuance of a €300 million digital bond via blockchain for simultaneous settlement. The issue by the German industrial giant marks the second attempt by Siemens into blockchain-based securities transactions as it strives for innovative changes in the face of the digital finance frontier.
The Second Digital Bond: A Milestone for Siemens
This €300 million bond issuance from them was its second foray into the blockchain technology after an earlier issuance in 2023 of a €60 million digital bond. The transaction is executed under Germany’s electronic securities act, aiming to cut through bureaucracies in the securities market with digitization.
Instantaneously, it issued and settled the one-year maturity bond on SWIAT’s private permissioned blockchain. Using the Bundesbank’s Trigger Solution, the entire transaction was automated from end to end in a few minutes, using central bank money to achieve settlement.
A Fully Automated, Instant Settlement
Siemensa explained that thanks to blockchain, the bond issuance had been carried out fast and automated. “By issuing another digital bond, we are demonstrating once again our spirit of innovation and underscoring our aim to continuously drive digital solutions for the financial markets”, said Siemens’ Chief Financial Officer Ralf P. Thomas.
With DekaBank performing the duties of bond registrar and BayernLB, DZ BANK, Helaba, and LBBW as investors, Deutsche Bank was providing essential settlement in central bank money. The above setup enabled the end-to-end process of issuance through to settlement to go through seamlessly real-time.
Siemens Larger Blockchain Strategy
This new digital issuance of bonds is the broad push by them to sprinkle cutting-edge technologies throughout its operations. In early 2024, Them announced a metaverse-focused partnership with Sony to work on applications in industry. This was a collaboration intended to bring about a mixed-reality headset for professional designers and engineers, using AI to enhance their efficiency.
A further indication, indeed, that Siemens is still embracing new technologies, like blockchain, for increased efficiency and security in financial transactions, is this €300 million digital bond.
