January 08, 2025
By Our Correspondent
Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has initiated the sale of customized tokenised bonds aimed at corporate accredited investors, thereby becoming the first bank in Singapore to undertake such an initiative. Corporate accredited investors are defined as corporations possessing net assets exceeding $10 million.
These tokenised bonds are linked to investment-grade bonds and are tailored according to the client’s preferred tenor and yield. Once structured, they are minted and transferred to the client’s wallet on OCBC’s asset tokenisation platform.
In November 2024, the bank successfully executed its first transaction for a mid-sized manufacturing client in Singapore, minting a tokenised bond with a tenor of less than one year.
According to OCBC, the tokenised bonds enable clients to subscribe to tokens in denominations of $1,000, significantly lower than the minimum transaction size of $250,000 typically required for corporate bonds. This reduction in denomination is expected to facilitate the creation of more diversified portfolios encompassing a variety of assets, as stated by OCBC in its announcement on January 6.
This recent development represents the second commercial application of OCBC’s blockchain infrastructure, which was established in 2022. The initial application involved a collaboration with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to pilot a blockchain-based conditional payment solution for construction projects in 2024.
Kenneth Lai, head of global markets at OCBC, remarked, “As an industry, we have made significant strides in understanding and recognising the vast potential of tokenised assets. As we shift our focus towards commercialisation, we are proud to have developed bespoke tokenised bonds via our asset tokenisation platform.”
He further noted, “This innovation provides flexible and liquid investment alternatives, bringing tangible benefits to our customers. Leveraging our asset tokenisation capabilities, we will progressively expand our offerings to include other types of tokenised assets.”
