SIX Launches World’s First Digital CHF Bond

The Switzerland Stock Exchange (SIX) announced yesterday that its SIX Digital Exchange placed the first senior unsecured digital CHF bond with a total volume of CHF 150 million and maturity in 2026 via its holding company SIX Group Ltd.

The exchange noted that the bond is split into two exchangeable parts: the digital and traditional parts held by SIX Digital Exchange Ltd and SIX SIS Ltd. The bonds will be repaid at their nominal value on the due date unless they're repaid prematurely or acquired and canceled, SIX noted.

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The exchange stated in the press release, "Today's issuance is an extraordinary success, as this is the world's first bond issuance with a pure digital part in a fully regulated environment. The offering was oversubscribed several times and attracted strong interest from a very broad institutional investor base in Switzerland – evidence of the fact that the SIX's stakeholders appreciate its strong track record, its substantial cash generation, robust business model and potential for growth very positively."

Daniel Schmucki, CFO SIX: "This is an innovative and historic transaction as it is the first of its kind in the world on a regulated and fully integrated digital exchange. The transaction was supported by key Swiss market participants and has demonstrated that the investor base is convinced of the innovative power of the Swiss financial market and of the supporting role of SIX in the transformation and development of the financial center."

Thomas Zeeb, Global Head of Markets at SIX: "The first issue of a tokenized bond on the SIX Digital Exchange as well as its listing and placement in the market proves that the forward-looking distributed ledger technology (DLT) also works very well in the highly regulated capital market. This transaction marks the beginning of a new era.

The establishment and launch of SIX Digital Exchange is in line with the mandate of SIX to develop and operate infrastructure services. The aim of this is not only to increase efficiency and quality but also to underline the innovative strength of SIX and thus ensure the leading role of the Swiss financial marketplace in the future in a sustainable manner."