New York, April 29, 2021 - Consensys, the leading blockchain software company, supported Societe Generale – FORGE, the digital capital markets platform of the Societe Generale Group, as part of the European Investment Bank's first digital bond on a public blockchain.
On 27 April 2021, the EIB launched a multi-dealer unsubordinated, unsecured 2-year bond issuance (EUR 100,000,000) on the Ethereum mainnet, for the registration and settlement of the securities, in collaboration with Goldman Sachs, Santander and Societe Generale.
In a partnership with Banque de France, the payment of the issue monies from the underwriters to the EIB were represented on the Ethereum mainnet in the form of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The transaction was part of a partnership announced in October 2020, under which terms Societe Generale - FORGE selected Consensys to provide technology and services for its ongoing CBDC pilot activities through its Codefi Payments product.
Learn about our Digital Currency Technology Sandbox
As part of the project, Consensys formed a joint team together with Societe Generale - FORGE in order to define and develop the smart contract representing CBDC balances in Euro. The smart contract leveraged existing token standards and was deployed by the Banque de France on the Ethereum mainnet, with settlement taking place on-chain.
Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of Societe Generale – FORGE, noted, “For the first time, multiple financial institutions have used a global blockchain network in order to execute the complex flow of instructions and transactions required for the post-trade settlement of digital securities.”
Ken Timsit, Managing Director at Consensys, noted, “We applaud the pioneering efforts of the institutions who have led this transaction and see significant potential in the interplay between digital assets and CBDCs on globally distributed networks to streamline the lifecycle of regulated securities.”
About Consensys
Consensys is the leading Ethereum software company. We enable developers, enterprises, and people worldwide to build next-generation applications, launch modern financial infrastructure, and access the decentralized web. The Consensys product suite, composed of Infura, Quorum, Truffle, Codefi, MetaMask, and Diligence, serves millions of users, supports billions of blockchain-based queries for our clients, and has handled billions of dollars in digital assets. Ethereum is the largest programmable blockchain in the world, leading in business adoption, developer community, and DeFi activity. On this trusted, open-source foundation, we are building the digital economy of tomorrow.
About Codefi Payments
Codefi Payments enables digital currency settlement for CBDCs and asset-backed stablecoins. We offer a Digital Currency Technology Sandbox for central banks, banks, payment service providers, and corporations to facilitate digital currency discovery and experimentation.
About Societe Generale – FORGE
Societe Generale – FORGE is a fully integrated subsidiary of Societe Generale Group. We provide issuers and investors, either Corporates or Financial Institutions, with end-to-end services to issue and manage digital-native financial products registered on the blockchain (Security Token).
For market infrastructure operators Societe Generale – FORGE builds open, simple, secure and institutional-grade frameworks and models for Security Token operations, underpinned by banking class security and full regulatory compliance. Committed to launching with real use cases, Societe Generale – FORGE is progressively building its ‘compliant by design’ platform capabilities.
About Societe Generale
Societe Generale is one of the leading European financial services groups. Based on a diversified and integrated banking model, the Group combines financial strength and proven expertise in innovation with a strategy of sustainable growth. Committed to the positive transformations of the world’s societies and economies, Societe Generale and its teams seek to build, day after day, together with its clients, a better and sustainable future through responsible and innovative financial solutions.
Active in the real economy for over 150 years, with a solid position in Europe and connected to the rest of the world, Societe Generale has over 133,000 members of staff in 61 countries and supports on a daily basis 30 million individual clients, businesses and institutional investors around the world by offering a wide range of advisory services and tailored financial solutions. The Group is built on three complementary core businesses:
French Retail Banking which encompasses the Societe Generale, Credit du Nord and Boursorama brands. Each offers a full range of financial services with omnichannel products at the cutting edge of digital innovation;
International Retail Banking, Insurance and Financial Services to Corporates, with networks in Africa, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and specialised businesses that are leaders in their markets;
Global Banking and Investor Solutions, which offers recognised expertise, key international locations and integrated solutions.
Societe Generale is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (World and Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).
For more information, you can follow us on Twitter @societegenerale or visit our website www.societegenerale.com.
PRESS CONTACTS
Consensys James Beck [email protected]
Societe Generale Amandine Grison +33 (0)1 41 45 92 40