Banco do Brasil said it put $5 million of its own money into a digital native structured note issued by Citi and settled on Euroclear’s digital financial market infrastructure platform. The deal is being described as the first of its kind in Latin America.
According to Banco do Brasil, blockchain allows assets to be digitized natively, cutting down operational steps and making transactions easier to trace. The bank said it sees this technology as the base for new models in transactions, settlement, and asset management. And it said the investment fits with its ongoing focus on shifts in the financial industry.
Franscisco Lassalvia, vice president of wholesale banking at Banco do Brasil, said decentralized digital technology has turned into a long-term structural trend in financial markets. Roksolana Dushynska, product manager for equity structured products at Citi Global Markets, said distributed ledger technology can improve capital market efficiency, transparency, and investor accessibility.
Banco do Brasil has already taken part in the pilot for Brazil's central bank digital currency, Drex, and it also put forward an offline payment solution. The bank is controlled by the Brazilian federal government and is listed on the Brazilian stock exchange as well.