Emirates NBD, a banking neighborhood in the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye (MENAT) state, has issued a $272 million (AED 1 billion) digital bond the usage of DLT (Distributed Ledger Expertise). Here is the largest public digital bond issued in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) state.
The digital bond will possible be listed on Nasdaq Dubai, guaranteeing clear tag discovery, secondary market access, and alignment with global market requirements, enhancing investor self assurance. This would seemingly device the notes the major to be listed and admitted on Nasdaq Dubai.
The bond became as soon as issued through a public providing below Emirates NBD’s Euro Medium Duration of time Allege (EMTN) Program. It leveraged dispensed ledger know-how (DLT) on Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI) platform to digitize the bond lifecycle.
The D-FMI is a platform that helps to topic, distribute, and desire digital global securities the usage of DLT. It also integrates seamlessly with established secondary-market services and buying and selling venues, so merchants retain access to acquainted liquidity channels.
The Emirates NBD digital bond attracted a various investor gross
As per the click originate, the bond attracted a various investor gross. Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq, and Identical old Chartered acted as Joint Lead Managers, while Emirates NBD Capital and Identical old Chartered acted as the Joint Digitally Native Allege Structurers. Citi acted as the Issuing and Paying Agent.
Ahmed Al Qassim, Community Head of Wholesale Banking, Emirates NBD, explained that the digital bond issuance is a landmark tournament no longer appropriate for Emirates NBD but as well for the state’s debt markets.
He added, “The UAE continues to plight unique benchmarks for digital sources and dispensed ledger know-how at some level of the Middle East. We’re confident that the transaction will enhance operational effectivity, perambulate up settlement cycles, and toughen transparency and security for merchants.” He also noteworthy that this would form a more resilient digital capital markets ecosystem in the UAE and the state.
The CEO of Nasdaq Dubai, Hamed Ali, acknowledged that list an AED-denominated, digitally native bond on Nasdaq Dubai demonstrated the maturity of the digital debt market in a regulated, internationally aligned switch atmosphere.
Furthermore, Bernard Ferran, Chief Industrial Officer, Euroclear Community, believes that this transaction will carry loyal worth for possibilities. He explains that possibilities can now harness innovation with out sacrificing reliability, making the most of faster execution while affirming seamless investor access, deep liquidity, and alignment with established market requirements.
Qatar National Bank turns into first to topic blockchain-enabled digital bond
In November 2025, Qatar National Bank (QNB) launched its first-ever native blockchain-enabled digital bond issuance, raising $500 million in what’s being described as the largest transaction of its form by a financial institution in the Middle East and Africa.
The digital bond issuance became as soon as powered by the HSBC Orion Blockchain resolution. This step came as half of QNB’s technique to faucet unique sources of true funding from unique markets with digitally revolutionary funding sources. HSBC acted as the sole bookrunner on the transaction, in what it called a extra step in its ambition to bring discontinue-to-discontinue blockchain-basically based solutions to its global client gross.
Earlier than that, QNB Community, Identical old Chartered, and DMZ Finance, an RWA tokenization infrastructure provider, launched the Dubai World Financial Centre’s (DIFC) first regulated tokenized cash market fund, the QCD Money Market Fund (gadgets in QCDT).
