Tokenised bonds allow clients to subscribe to tokens at denominations of $1,000, which is a fraction of the minimum transaction size of $250,000 for corporate bonds.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has launched the sale of bespoke tokenised bonds to corporate accredited investors, becoming the first bank in Singapore to do so. Corporate accredited investors refer to corporations with net assets exceeding $10 million.

The tokenised bonds reference investment grade bonds and are structured based on the client’s desired tenor and yield. They are then minted and transferred to the client’s wallet on OCBC’s asset tokenisation platform.

The bank completed its inaugural transaction for a mid-sized manufacturing client in Singapore in November 2024, minting a tokenised bond with a tenor of less than a year.

According to the bank, tokenised bonds allow clients to subscribe to tokens at denominations of $1,000, which is a fraction of the minimum transaction size of $250,000 for corporate bonds. Smaller denominations will be able to facilitate the building of more diversified portfolios with a range of assets, says OCBC in its Jan 6 statement.

The latest announcement marks the second commercial use case using OCBC’s blockchain infrastructure, which was developed in 2022. The first use case was with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to pilot a blockchain-based conditional payment solution for construction projects in 2024.

“As an industry, we have made significant strides in understanding and recognising the vast potential of tokenised assets. As we shift our focus towards commercialisation, we are proud to have developed bespoke tokenised bonds via our asset tokenisation platform,” says Kenneth Lai, head of global markets at OCBC.

“This innovation provides flexible and liquid investment alternatives, bringing tangible benefits to our customers. Leveraging our asset tokenisation capabilities, we will progressively expand our offerings to include other types of tokenised assets,” he adds.

As at 11.34am, shares in OCBC are trading 18 cents higher or 1.09% up at $16.75.