Singapore pilots blockchain-transacted structured products

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a new industry pilot in wealth management with HSBC, UOB and Marketnode collaborating to enable native digital issuance of wealth management products.

released by the financial regulator on 2 November 2022.

The asset tokenization trial, which is part of ‘Project Guardian’ launched by the Singaporean government in May, aims to fully digitalise the end-to-end value chain from issuance, securitisation and distribution to asset servicing of products such as structured notes and actively managed certificates (AMCs).

blockchain technology in parallel with traditional processes, Yung Chee added.

As part of the collaboration between MAS and the financial industry, the project features pilot use cases in four main areas: open and interoperable networks, trust anchors, institutional grade decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols and asset tokenisation.

HSBC and United Overseas Bank (UOB) have partnered to test the digital issuance of wealth management products via distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure provided by Markenode, a joint venture between the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek, according to a statement

'With asset tokenisation, customers will find it easier to create structured products with the bank and enjoy an improved process,' said Leong Yung Chee (pictured), head of blockchain & digital assets at UOB.

Last June, the Singaporean bank became the first financial institution issuer in Singapore partnering with Marketnode to experiment with tokenised bond issuances using

Nomura targets Dubai investors

Richard Godfrey, global co-head of securities services and securities financing at HSBC, said the test issuances ‘take the tokenisation of financial and real economy assets one step further into wealth products’.

'This project builds on our capabilities in distributed ledger technology and presents an opportunity to introduce a new phase for accessible wealth management products,' said Godfrey.

Nomura has opened a branch of Nomura Singapore Limited at the Dubai International Financial Centre, United Arab Emirates, to expand the scope of its International Wealth Management business in the Middle East.

The Japanese bank has received in-principle approvals from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to establish its wealth management relationship center in the Middle East and commence operations on receipt of the DFSA license.

‘We hope to bring our leading institutional product suite including structured solutions to meet the sophisticated needs of entrepreneurs and ultra-high-net-worth clients in the Middle East,’ said Rig Karkhanis, deputy head of global markets and head of global markets, Asia ex-Japan.

The launch marks the division's latest expansion to broaden its coverage of ultra-high-net-worth clients in its target markets of Greater China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the global Non-Resident Indians segment, all currently served by about 90 private bankers based in Singapore and Hong Kong.