The Banque de France has successfully carried out two market transactions in tokenised assets

In both cases, the transactions were settled in central bank digital currency (CBDC) tokens issued by the Banque de France on the DL3S blockchain.

Reverse repurchase agreement with Société Générale 

Société Générale pledged bonds issued in 2020 on the public blockchain Ethereum as collateral, in exchange for CBDC tokens issued by the Banque de France on the DL3S interoperability solution (distributed ledger). Both parties used the technological capabilities of the Société Générale Forge platform, which acted as registrar for the issuer.

Purchase of a tokenised security from BNP Paribas

The Banque de France purchased a tokenised euro area sovereign bond in the secondary market, and successfully tested two corporate actions – coupon payment and redemption – both of which were settled on the Banque de France DL3S platform. BNPP's securities business acted as subscriber and registrar for the Banque de France, operating on the Neobonds blockchain.

The two operations prove that it is possible to carry out tokenised transactions on the secondary market, and show that the DL3S blockchain is interoperable with the platforms of these two innovative banking players. These “real-life” transactions also allowed the Banque de France's operational business lines to get involved in using these new technologies. 

Emmanuelle Assouan, Director General Financial Stability and Operations said: "I am delighted with the success of the Banque de France’s first investment transaction in the secondary tokenised debt market. It adds to the numerous experiments in which the Banque de France has actively participated since 2020, by providing market participants with a settlement solution in central bank digital currency. It also demonstrates our commitment to exploring all possibilities, especially for investors, for supporting the development of decentralised finance while also preserving financial stability.”