ABN AMRO registers first digital green bond on the public blockchain

Announcement

ABN AMRO is the first Dutch bank to register a digital green bond on the public blockchain. With this innovative bond, Vesteda raised EUR 5 million from DekaBank. The proceeds of the transaction will be used to (re-)finance Green Assets, in line with Vesteda’s Green Finance Framework.

The entire process of preparing, placing and documenting of the bond was digital. Ownership was recorded on the blockchain in the form of tokens that the investor acquired after they had paid for the bond. To ensure custody and security of the investors’ unique keys, ABN AMRO uses a wallet for accessing the digital bond. For the contemplated transaction, ABN AMRO also provided the digital custody services.

ABN AMRO had previously gained experience with digital bonds, including the purchasing and reselling of a digital bond from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the placement of a digital bond for APOC (a Midcorp client of the bank). With the latest transaction for Vesteda, ABN AMRO has now been able to take several steps in the development of its digital proposition which will support ABN AMRO to continue working towards a digital future.

Frits Vervoort, Chief Financial Officer of Vesteda: “For Vesteda it was a great learning experience to arrange a digital green bond by means of public blockchain. We have gained valuable knowledge and experience on how blockchain can help us with financing solutions, and the advantages it offers. We are thankful for ABN AMRO for arranging this transaction and DekaBank for their trust in Vesteda”.

Olivier Aartsen, ABN AMRO Head of Debt Capital Markets (DCM): “At ABN AMRO we are very pleased with the placement of the digital bond for Vesteda, as well as the debt that DekaBank provided this way. We have enjoyed working with Vesteda’s team and DekaBank on this transaction. We will continue to advise other clients and investors in this area and aim to further support multiple digital bond issuances in the future.”

For this issuance, ABN AMRO engaged the services of Tokeny and Fireblocks for the digital wallet. Legal services were provided by Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance.