Digital issuances: IMI CIB in the inaugural Intesa Sanpaolo transaction

The IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Intesa Sanpaolo, developed the components of the Bank’s inaugural issuance of digital euro commercial paper, occurred on 8 November 2024, with a nominal value of EUR 10M and a ten-day maturity.

The transaction, supported by the New Technologies for Wholesale Settlement Contact Group (NTW-CG), was carried out as part of the second wave of the Eurosystem trials aimed at exploring new technologies for Wholesale Central Bank Money Settlement.

This Eurosystem initiative is exploring how financial transactions, digitally recorded using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), can be settled in central bank money through the interaction between DLT and the Eurosystem's TARGET services.

The issuance was executed on a proprietary DLT operated by Clearstream, which acted as the DLT Market Operator in the trial, accessible via Deutsche Börse's D7 platform.

The digital issuance and the custody of the ECP were managed using proprietary solutions developed by the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. The issuance and settlement of the instrument were completed on the same day, compared to the two days required under the current model, ensuring rapid and efficient execution as well as a significant simplification of operational activities. For interoperability with the TARGET services was adopted the 'TIPS Hash-Link' solution, developed by Bank of Italy, while the Intesa Sanpaolo’s Treasury Department managed the related activities.

The development of DLT-based infrastructures has the potential to enhance efficiency and streamline processes within the financial ecosystem, both at the European and global levels, also creating new business opportunities for market operators. In this context, the issuance of digital ECP represents a key step forward in the adoption of this innovative technology and in its application to a traditional funding instrument by Intesa Sanpaolo.