Standard Chartered, Philippines Bank Issue $187M Blockchain Bond

Standard Chartered Bank and UnionBank of the Philippines said Monday they have completed a proof-of-concept issuance of a 9 billion Philippines peso (US$187 million) tokenized retail bond on a blockchain-backed platform.

• Singapore-based SC Ventures – Standard Chartered's fintech investment unit – was responsible for building the bond tokenization platform in collaboration with UnionBank.
• In total there were three- and 5.25-year dual-tranche issuances totaling $187 million by UnionBank that were mirrored in tokenized form on the platform, according to the announcement.
• The project aims to provide retail investors with a platform to gain direct access to bonds.
• “The bond infrastructure around the world has been designed primarily for institutional investors and involves a number of intermediaries to buy and subsequently trade bonds, making it less accessible to retail investors," said Aaron Gwak, Standard Chartered Bank's head of capital markets, ASEAN.
• This is not the first time the two banks have partnered on a bond issuance. Earlier this year, Standard Chartered and UnionBank teamed up to launch Bonds.PH, a platform for retail treasury bonds, in collaboration with the Philippine's Bureau of the Treasury and PDAX, a digital assets exchange.
• UnionBank has also issued its own stablecoin, PHX, according to a 2019 report from Filipino media outlet PhilStar Global. With the issuance, the bank also reportedly conducted the first blockchain-based transaction by a Filipino bank.

See also: Standard Chartered to Launch Institutional Crypto Custody Solution