France has issued its first digitally native note (DNN) in bearer form under French law as a part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) wholesale DLT settlement trials. The €100 million DNN was issued by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), carried out with Euroclear’s D-FMI DLT securities settlement system, and settled with Banque de France’s DL3S platform for digital currency.
The interoperability solution was co-designed by Banque de France and Euroclear – the collaboration highlights “the importance of co-creation between private and public entities for successful adoption”, states Euroclear in a press release and “marks a significant step towards standardisation and scalability in the digital assets space”.
BNP Paribas’ Securities Services acted as the issuing agent. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, together with Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking, served as dealers.
Many firsts
Besides being the first DNN under French law, the issuance was also the first to use the interconnectivity between D-FMI and DL3S, the first DNN by CDC, and the first DNN admitted to trading on Euronext Paris.
Says Sebastien Danloy, chief business officer at Euroclear, “It is crucial for participants, financial market infrastructures, and central banks to collaborate in bridging the gap between traditional finance and digital asset securities.” With its involvement, Euroclear strives to “develop efficient, resilient, and interoperable digital infrastructures”.
