Euroclear and Clearstream announced that they are set to modernise the Eurobond market by enabling dematerialised issuance from early 2026, eliminating the need for paper certificates in the world’s third-largest debt market.
Euroclear and Clearstream to Digitise €14 Trillion Eurobond Market
Eurobonds, valued at more than €14 trillion, support a diverse range of issuers and investors across 130 countries.
The two International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) have also co-developed the Issuance & Processing Taxonomy (IPT), an industry-wide, technology-agnostic data standard designed to reduce fragmentation.
The IPT is said to support APIs and will soon be extended to include token taxonomy for distributed-ledger technology.
According to Euroclear’s Head of Product Strategy & Innovation, Isabelle Delorme, the new taxonomy is “a game changer for clients wanting to use APIs to issue Eurobonds and preparing to issue tokenised bonds.”
Jens Hachmeister, Head of Issuer Services & New Digital Markets at Clearstream, described the project as “a testament to the collaborative efforts between the ICSDs and across the industry,” adding that digitisation would allow Eurobonds to act as a blueprint for stronger European capital markets.
The shift to digital issuance is expected to deliver multiple benefits, including faster trading, lower costs from the removal of physical certificates, improved security against forgery or theft, and greater transparency through electronic ownership records.
Euroclear and Clearstream said the initiative lays the groundwork for a fully digital Eurobond market, paving the way for lifecycle automation and further adoption of distributed-ledger technologies.
