UK names 6 banks to lead first digitally native government bond

What happened

The UK government has appointed six major banks to lead the issuance of its first digitally native government bond, with the pilot expected by the first quarter of 2027. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby announced the appointments Tuesday during a keynote at UK Digital Assets Week.

The DIGIT pilot will test distributed ledger technology and onchain settlement for UK sovereign debt, with issuance expected by the first quarter of 2027. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest and RBC Capital Markets were named joint lead managers for the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) following a competitive procurement process.

Source: Lucy Rigby DIGIT will be issued on a platform operating within the UK’s Digital Securities Sandbox and will test the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) across the bond’s issuance and lifecycle, including onchain settlement. The government said the pilot is intended to explore the use of DLT in sovereign debt markets while encouraging the development of digital financial infrastructure in the UK.

Key facts

• Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby — announced: the appointments Tuesday during a keynote at UK Digital Assets Week