Citi takes significant step in revolutionizing the global bond market
The world’s first fractional bond exchange using the latest in distributed ledger technology now has Citi Securities Services as its first digital custodian participant.
BondbloX Bond Exchange, or BBX, launched in 2020 and allows investors to track and trade bonds electronically. It has been hailed as a significant step in a bond trading revolution. By enabling investors to trade in fractions of full-sized bonds, it is also seen as bringing many of the benefits of the equities market to bonds.
Citi clients, subject to certain criteria, will be able to begin trading both fractionalized and full-sized bonds on the BBX almost immediately, with Citi providing seamless settlement and custody services at the back end.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to investing in the future of digital financial market infrastructure by building products and services to support the current and future needs of our clients,” said Matthew Bax, global head of Custody for Citi Securities Services. “We are committed to partnering with BondbloX on their journey to transform and simplify bond trading and investing.”
BBX participants, whether they are Citi clients or not, will benefit from Citi’s digital custodian services and will gain wider access to the global bond market enabling greater diversification of their investment portfolios, and immediate, atomic settlement at the point of trade execution.
“The decision to partner with Citi was an easy one, given their reputation as a leading securities services provider and our history of collaboration,” commented Dr. Rahul Banerjee, CEO and Co-Founder of BondbloX. “Digital Custody is the next big step in the transformation of the bond market, making bond markets, more transparent,
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