SGX, Temasek form digital asset JV on capital market workflows

The venture will look to partner with fixed income issuance platforms.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek have formed a joint venture (JV) set to be Asia Pacific’s first exchange-led digital asset venture focused on capital markets workflows through smart contracts, ledger and tokenisation technologies, according to a press release.

The JV will look to partner with fixed income issuance platforms to connect to its post-trade and asset servicing infrastructure, providing issuers, arranger banks, lawyers, investors, and paying agents with an issuance-to-settlement network for Asia bonds.

It will also focus on other existing and emerging asset classes that have seen growing market demand, including funds and sustainable finance, the joint release added.

The partnership will combine SGX’s multi-asset experience and strengths in operating market infrastructure and Temasek’s expertise in blockchain technology and ecosystem connectivty.

The venture reportedly builds on the successful collaboration between SGX, Temasek, and HSBC that culminated with the issuance of Asia’s first public syndicated digital bond for Olam International in August 2020. SGX’s digital asset issuance, depository and servicing platform was used to issue four digital bonds by several issuers, with a total size of over $1b.