State-run Land Bank of the Philippines said it contributed P7 billion in sales of the first tokenized treasury bonds (TTBs) issued by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) in support of the government’s push for a financially-inclusive domestic capital market.
LandBank was the lead issue manager with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for the maiden offering of TTBs and brought half of the total issued size of P15 billion.
The TTBs are fixed-income government securities that are stored as digital tokens in the digital wallets of investors.
It is supported by a dual registry structure where the National Registry of Scripless Securities (NRoSS) operates in parallel with a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)-based registry through blockchain technology.
“The tokenized treasury bonds exemplifies a forward-looking approach in promoting accessibility, convenience, efficiency, and transparency towards enhancing the overall investor experience. With the adoption of blockchain technology, we are also ensuring the integrity of transactions while providing investors with an increased level of trust and security,” said LandBank president and chief executive Lynette Ortiz.
The maiden issuance was made available to qualified institutional buyers in minimum denominations of P10 million and increments of P1 million thereafter. These one-year peso-denominated bonds fetched a coupon rate of 6.5 percent per annum, payable every six months until maturity in November 2024.
The tokenization of treasury bonds demonstrates the national government’s vision of democratizing access to government securities by streamlining settlement procedures and minimizing friction costs. Following the successful debut, the BTr is looking to extend tokenized bonds to Filipino retail investors.
LandBank said it remains committed to supporting the national government’s bond offerings, as part of its efforts to promote greater financial inclusion and broader participation in the bond market.