Linklaters advises IFC on the issuance of Digitally Native Notes by İşbank

Linklaters has advised the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as investor in fully digital securities (Digitally Native Notes) issued by Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş. (İşbank) on Euroclear's Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI), the first DLT deployment within an EU established central securities depository (CSD) capable of supporting securities governed by English law. Citi acted as dealer and issuing and paying agent.

This pivotal transaction marks the first issuance of a Digitally Native Note on the D-FMI in Türkiye. The Digitally Native Notes have an aggregate principal amount of USD 100,000,000, a 5-year maturity and bear interest at a floating rate of 6-Month Term SOFR.

Linklaters has continually been at the centre of the digitisation of the financial markets, through the development of new platforms, the use of novel technologies and thought leadership. This was underlined by Linklaters' role as legal adviser to Euroclear on the development and launch of the D-FMI in October 2023. Subsequently, Linklaters also advised Euroclear, and TD Securities in its capacity as dealer, on the first ever issuance on the D-FMI.

Richard Hay, Capital Markets partner and UK Head of FinTech at Linklaters, comments:

“Our congratulations to our client IFC, and İşbank as issuer, for this ground-breaking transaction on Euroclear’s D-FMI. This is a highly significant milestone in the development of the digital bond market, and a further development in the journey towards increasingly digital financial markets”

Alexander Schlee, Capital Markets partner at Linklaters:

"The successful completion of this international transaction confirms our role as a pioneer in innovative digital capital market products. The transaction involving IFC, Euroclear and İşbank demonstrates how distributed ledger technology delivers practical benefits and sets new market standards. We are proud to be at the forefront of developing and implementing modern securities solutions, actively shaping the digitalisation of financial markets.

The international Linklaters Team was led by Dr Alexander Schlee (Partner, Frankfurt) and Richard Hay (Partner, London) who were supported by Adjoa Abekah-Mensah (Managing Associate, London), Wolfgang Ettengruber (Counsel, Frankfurt; all Capital Markets) and Etienne Dessy (Partner, Corporate and Finance, Brussels).