Deutsche Bank Trust and Securities Services supports Clearstream’s landmark dematerialised Eurobond issuance

The issuance marks a structural shift in Eurobonds – a €15.3trn asset class and the world’s third-largest debt market. Traditionally, Eurobonds have required physical paper instruments – known as Global Notes – to be signed and held by a common depository. Under the dematerialised model, these are replaced by a legally definitive electronic record maintained by a Common Recordkeeper.

In practice, as issuing and paying agent, Deutsche Bank was able to instruct the creation of the securities – in this case, a Euro-Commercial Paper with a nominal amount of €50m issued by Clearstream Banking S.A. – without the need for physical handling or safekeeping of a Global Note.

“Demat Eurobonds fit into the existing front-to-back lifecycle while helping to eliminate many of the reconciliation and reporting processes associated with physical, paper-based activities – reducing operational risk and enabling greater speed to market,” explained Jason Connery, Head of Europe Trust & Securities Services at Deutsche Bank.

The transaction was enabled under the new issuance model introduced by Clearstream and Euroclear – the two international central securities depositories (ICSDs) – on 16 March 2026, giving issuers the option to issue securities in dematerialised form. Alongside Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank acted as dealer and Citigroup Global Markets Limited as arranger for the transaction.

“Demat Eurobonds reduce operational risk and enable greater speed to market”
Jason Connery, Head of Europe Trust and Securities Services, Deutsche Bank

Commenting at the time of the joint launch of the new issuance model, Jens Hachmeister, Head of Issuer Services & New Digital Markets at Clearstream, said: “The digitisation efforts by the two ICSDs significantly support the growth and effectiveness of European capital markets, making them more robust and attractive for issuers and investors globally.”¹

The pilot demonstrates how the new model can operate in a live market environment, providing an important test of its operational readiness, scalability and enhanced framework.²

Clearstream describes it as a “critical step” towards the model’s full roll-out in November 2026. From then, issuers incorporated outside the UK will be able to issue dematerialised Eurobonds under English law, subject to certain eligibility requirements.³

The significance of the initiative also extends beyond the move away from paper. Alongside dematerialisation, the ICSDs are also further developing common data standards and API-enabled processes designed to support greater automation across the Eurobond lifecycle.

“Dematerialisation can be seen as an important foundation for the further innovation towards a fully digital Eurobond market. As these different initiatives from the ICSDs come together, they can help create a more efficient and integrated framework and, over time, make it easier to incorporate new developments such as distributed-ledger technology (DLT),” added Connery.

Work on DLT-based issuance and the Clearstream Digital Infrastructure is progressing in parallel. In November 2025, Clearstream launched D7 DLT, its tokenised securities platform. According to the company, the platform is fully compliant with the EU’s Central Securities Depositories Regulation and gives clients “the choice between digital and tokenised issuance”. ⁴

Sources

¹ See Clearstream and Euroclear Digitize Eurobond Issuance Revolutionizing the Market at clearstream.com
² See Clearstream Pioneers Dematerialized Eurobond Issuance at clearstream.com
³ See Expansion of Dematerialised Eurobonds under English Law to non-UK incorporated issuers at clearstream.com
⁴ See D7 DLT: Clearstream Launches Tokenized Securities Platform at clearstream.com