Australia's CommBank Plans to Issue a Bond on the Blockchain

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has revealed a plan to issue a bond over a blockchain system, possibly as soon as next year.

Though few details were revealed, Sophie Gilder, CommBank's head of blockchain, said that the bond would be transferred and paid for over a blockchain-based system in collaboration with an unnamed major world issuer, according to ZDNet report.

In comments made during the GMIC Sydney conference Tuesday, Gilder said that bank has been exploring blockchain use cases for more than four years and has completed 25 proofs-of-concept and trials aimed to address real-world business issues.

CommBank, she continued, is eyeing the technology for equities, bonds, syndicated loans and other applications where it considers there are high levels of "friction."

Gilder stated:

"We think the platform we have built can make this more efficient."

Earlier this year, as reported by CoinDesk, CommBank announced that it is developing a blockchain-based system for the sale of government bonds. The concept was tested by the Queensland Treasury Corporation, which acts as the Australian state’s central financing authority.

Other institutions are also moving to adopt blockchain technology for bond issuance.

This October, Russia's National Securities Depository said it had issued its first-ever live bond using blockchain. The financial instrument, a $10-million bond for shares in Russian telecom giant MegaFon, used smart contracts and the open-source Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.

And, in late 2016, French bank BNP also announced that it was exploring the technology for use in distributing instruments known as "mini-bonds."

Commonwealth Bank image via Shutterstock