SIX & Swiss National Bank Drive CBDC Pilot For Digital Securities

According to reports, Switzerland, one of the world’s leading countries in financial innovation, recently announced plans to collaborate with the efforts of the players of the Swiss financial markets to foster the development of the country’s future revolving around digital financial markets.

SIX, a Zurich-based Swiss stock exchange, along with the Swiss National Bank and six other commercial banks, is embarking on an innovative pilot project centered on tokenized central bank money designed for financial institutions, targeting wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) adoption.

SDX Pioneering the Swiss Digital Landscape

The project pilot, Helvetia Phase III, focuses on creating a tokenized version of the Swiss Franc wCBDC as a settlement instrument between financial institutions for better transactions revolving around digital securities on the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). Moreover, SDX, one of the world’s leading fully regulated Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)-based financial market platforms for digital assets, plans to host the pilot on its platform while also substituting as a trusted gateway.

The project focuses on leveraging itself with the help of data insights gathered by earlier phases of the pilot, Helevita 1 and 2. The earlier initiatives of the project, such as Helevita 1 and 2, were conducted by BIS Innovation Hub, the Swiss National Bank, and SIX Digital Holdings, allowing the integration of valuable insights into its network.

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More Details On The Collaboration

The upcoming collaboration encompasses Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, UBS, and Zürcher Kantonalbank as existing SDX member banks. Furthermore, the pilot aims to utilize the framework of Swiss Interbank Clearing SIC, which is operated by SIX and SIX SIS, the national Central Securities Depository (CSD) of the Swiss financial market, and an International Central Securities Depository (ICSD).

As of writing, the pilot is all set to run its course from December 2023 till June 2024.

The recently introduced pilot jacks up the real-world settlements of primary and secondary market transactions using wCBDC. Banks engaging with this pilot will be authorized to issue digital Swiss Franc bonds, which can only be settled against wCBDC on a delivery versus payment basis.

This upcoming collaboration highlights DLT’s role in enhancing transparency and efficiency in the well-regulated financial system, positioning Switzerland as a leader in digital finance innovation.

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