PARIS (Reuters) – Societe Generale announced on Monday the issuance of its first digital green bond on a public blockchain, as France’s third-largest listed bank seeks to develop its expertise in cryptoasset services.
This inaugural operation amounts to 10 million euros in the form of a “senior preferred unsecured” bond with a maturity of three years, the bank said in a press release.
The two management companies AXA Investment Managers and Generali Investments have fully subscribed to the corresponding “tokens” (digital tokens), through a private placement, Société Générale said.
Blockchain provides a secure digital ledger that records ownership of tokens. While the technology has not yet been widely adopted, its supporters say it could make trading more efficient and transparent.
Cryptocurrencies have been the primary use of blockchain so far, but banks are increasingly investing in the development of tokenized securities, also known as security tokens. The idea is to create tokens on the blockchain that represent ownership of traditional financial assets such as bonds.
Funds raised by green bonds are intended to be spent on projects or activities with environmental benefits, such as renewable energy and low-carbon transport.
“This operation is a new illustration of the innovative services developed by Société Générale on digital securities,” said the bank. “It also contributes to enriching the group’s capabilities in debt capital markets in order to meet demand from issuer and institutional clients for digital assets integrating ESG considerations.”
AXA Investment Managers said on Monday it had completed its first market transaction using EUR CoinVertible (EURCV), the digital asset issued by SG-FORGE, the bank’s digital asset service provider.
Societe Generale’s bond issuance, carried out on the public Ethereum blockchain, follows last week’s launch by the European Investment Bank (EIB) of its second euro-denominated digital bond on a private blockchain, in partnership with Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, Santander and SocGen.
(Report Mathieu Rosemain, French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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