First Korean issuer to use Euroclear's own blockchain infrastructure
Hana Bank said Monday it had issued a $100 million, five-year foreign-currency digital bond through Euroclear's blockchain-based platform, D-FMI (Digital Financial Market Infrastructure).
A digital bond is a purely digital instrument in which the entire lifecycle — issuance, registration and settlement — is handled directly on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) network.
The issuance marks the first time a Korean institution has used Euroclear's own blockchain infrastructure, D-FMI, to issue a digital bond. Euroclear is a global international central securities depository.
Through the transaction, Hana Bank achieved same-day settlement, known as T+0, for the first time in South Korea's foreign-currency bond market.
Because bond allocation and payment transfers are processed instantly on the distributed ledger, the bank said it had cut the conventional settlement cycle — typically three to five business days — down to the same day, improving funding stability and operational efficiency.
In addition, the bond is fully interoperable with Euroclear's existing traditional global settlement network.
Because the issuance used the same Global Medium-Term Note program documentation as conventional foreign-currency bonds, global institutional investors can trade the digital bond through their existing Euroclear accounts and trading systems without additional procedures, the bank said.
Hana Bank issued a $300 million Formosa bond in Taiwan's capital market in July.
"This $100 million digital bond issuance and the realization of T+0 settlement go beyond diversifying our funding tools — they represent a meaningful step in actively applying blockchain technology to the capital markets," a bank official said. "We will continue to swiftly adopt advanced infrastructure and explore innovative funding solutions that meet the needs of global investors."
hyuk@heraldcorp.com
