Digital Securities Solutions

Digital Securities Solutions

Unlocking Efficiency with Tokenization

Tokenization reshapes how financial assets are created, managed, and moved by combining efficiency gains with entirely new capabilities.

By representing assets in digital form on programmable infrastructure, institutions can automate processes that today rely on manual steps, reduce operational risk, and accelerate transfer and settlement cycles. At the same time, tokenization introduces opportunities that traditional infrastructure cannot natively support, such as fractional ownership, smart contract driven features, enhanced collateral mobility, and around the clock operations.

Together, these advancements unlock new business models while improving the speed, transparency, and flexibility of the financial system.

Unlock the Future of Securities Services

Discover how SIX Securities Services can accelerate your journey into digital assets through our FINMA regulated CSD and unlock new opportunities for growth.

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Our offering

Trusted and Regulated Gateway to Tokenized Securities

The Future of Bonds Is Digital

SIX SIS operates the world’s first fully regulated Digital Asset Platform, embedded in Central Securities Depository (CSD) financial market infrastructure and built on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in Switzerland.

Digital bonds revolutionize traditional bond issuance and trading by leveraging the power of Distributed Ledger Technology. With digital bonds, the entire bond lifecycle, from issuance to settlement, is digitized, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency.

Members of the network can issue, trade, and store digital bond tokens on a trusted and secure DLT platform. Digital bonds are redefining the lifecycle of bond issuance and SIX provides you with the infrastructure to lead this transformation.

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Benefits of Digital Bonds

Unlimited Access to Investors

Digital bonds issued through SIX remain accessible to the entire investor base, ensuring broad market participation.

Seamless Transition

Transition to the digital world without disruption. Issuers can maintain existing workflows for CHF bond issuance while benefiting from digital innovations.

Efficiency & Risk Reduction with DLT

CSD built on blockchain technology enables faster and more secure transactions.

CSD with Digital Assets Platform

Our Digital Asset Platform, part or the SIX SIS CSD, runs on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), which is the heart of the digital market infrastructure of the future.

While drawing from elements seen in the crypto world, this system presents distinct nuances. It’s fully regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, and it operates on a private permissioned network and a need-to-know basis for its members, such as banks and securities firms. It also ensures backwards integration to the existing market infrastructure by SIX. So that syndicate banks together with their clients can issue native digital bonds based Swiss securities law that can also live in the traditional world.

Digital bonds can settle against tokenized CHF on chain, where they are securely stored in cryptographic wallets for end investors.

Digital Bonds support the gradual adoption to the digital model that forms the foundation of the financial market of the future

At SIX, we are on a path with incremental steps towards the widespread adoption of digital securities — and you can be part of it. Digital bonds have been at the forefront of the digital evolution within the Swiss financial market, proving to be a key element in testing and advancing Distributed Ledger Technology. With the framework for digital securities equivalency in place, SIX is positioned to scale and take digital bonds to the next level.

Download the Digital Bonds Brochure

Euro-Denominated Bonds

SIX is expanding its services to include euro-denominated bonds. This means that it will allow the issuance of digital native bonds denominated in EUR on the platform. In the near future, SIX will expand the offering to include existing EUR-denominated bonds that can be tokenized. 

One notable advantage of digital bonds in the EUR-denominated bond market is the mitigation of settlement risks. In this market, trades are typically settled bilaterally without involving central counterparties. By leveraging the platform’s instant settlement capabilities, counterparties can transfer bonds with each other, even if they are unknown to one another, without facing settlement risks. This is a significant improvement made possible by the technology and can bring greater efficiency and security to the market.

wCBDC

Our Collaboration with the Swiss National Bank and our member banks

At SIX we believe that wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC) can facilitate the adoption of digital assets. We have been working in collaboration with the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the BIS Innovation Hub (Swiss Centre), and market participants to investigate the implications of wCBDC on the financial industry.

Project Helvetia explored how digital central bank money and tokenized assets can be integrated into the financial system using blockchain technology. This project was a collaborative effort that initially involved the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Swiss National Bank (SNB), and SIX in its first two phases. Afterwards, the collaboration continued with the SNB and SIX in the form of the Helvetia Pilot. 

SIX played a crucial role as the platform for testing and implementing these innovations.

Download the Factsheet on Helvetia Pilot

Helvetia Pilot

Goal

To explore how well a digital version of central bank money works in productive settings, building on the lessons from the previous phases.

As part of the Helvetia Pilot, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is providing wCBDC on SIX, enabling financial institutions to settle transactions involving digital (token-based) assets directly on the Digital Assets Platform of the SIX SIS CSD with wCBDC. The Pilot, running until at least June 2026, may be extended based on future assessments.

Initially, more financial institutions might join, and later, the range of financial transactions supported by wCBDC could broaden. While the Pilot supports private-sector innovation, it does not imply a permanent introduction of wCBDC by the SNB, as any such decision remains at the SNB’s discretion.

Helvetia Pilot is at the forefront of exploring digital money and technology to modernize financial systems. With the SIX Digital Assets as a pivotal platform, the project delivers valuable insights into how these innovations can benefit the financial market, guiding the future of digital currencies and their integration worldwide.

How to Participate

To be eligible for the Helvetia Pilot, financial institutions need to hold a sight deposit account with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and be admitted to the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) system (cf. Instruction sheet on admission to the SIC system and sight deposit accounts). Additionally, financial institutions must be members of SIX. For more details on how to join SIX, use the contact form below.

The SNB offers regular introduction sessions on the Helvetia Pilot. More information can be found here.

The range of financial transactions supported by wCBDC could broaden as part of the pilot. If you would like to execute some specific use cases using wCBDC, contact market-advisory@six-group.com or use the contact form below.

This is a thrilling moment for innovation as we shape the future of financial markets together!

Here is a look at the phases of the Helvetia project, which ultimately led to the launch of the Helvetia Pilot:

Completed on 3 December 2020

Goal

To test two approaches for settling digital assets in central bank money.

Two proofs of concepts were executed:

  • Issuance of tokenized central bank money (wCBDC) on the SIX Digital Assets Platform including its usage in payments and DvP settlements of trades involving digital assets.
  • Building a link between SIX and the existing central bank payment system (SIC, the Swiss RTGS) to allow the settlement of digital assets against payments in SIC balances.

Results

  • Confirmed that both proofs of concept are realistically possible.
  • Successfully demonstrated the feasibility of settling digital assets with central bank money on SDX, as well as the interoperability between traditional (Swiss RTGS) and DLT-based infrastructure (SIX).
  • Highlighted the potential benefits of having wCBDC on DLT such as increased efficiency and security.
  • Provided insights into the necessary technical and legal frameworks.

Completed on 13 January 2022

Goal

To further explore the integration of a wCBDC on a DLT-based infrastructure by integrating wCBDC with existing core banking systems of the central banks and commercial banks, building upon the foundational work from Phase I. Transactions were therefore performed end to end. The experiment included five commercial banks; Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, and UBS, extending the scope beyond the central bank.

Results

  • Demonstrated the feasibility of settling digital assets in wCBDC end to end.
  • Demonstrated that an overnight wCBDC can be integrated with existing core banking systems of commercial and central banks.
  • Addressed more of the operational, legal, and policy questions necessary for wCBDC issuance.

Trusted by These Members

The list of members showcases the financial institutions that are admitted to Securities Services. These regulated participants have met the technical and compliance requirements to access our digital CSD, enabling them to issue, hold, and settle securities on our platform.

Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Securities

Go Deeper: Discover Expert Content on Digital Asset Custody

Explore our Knowledge Hub to discover insights on Digital Assets Custody and stay up to date with the latest industry news and trends.

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