Citi and BMO look to A&O Shearman to advise on AIIB’s inaugural issuance on Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure platform

The USD300 million 4%, digitally native notes due 2027, which are governed by English law and listed on the regulated market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, were issued under AIIB’s GMTN programme and settled in the D-FMI platform on a T+2 basis. The programme was supplemented in April 2024, to build in the terms and conditions required to issue digitally native notes on the D-FMI platform.

The D-FMI platform enables the creation, issuance and settlement of fully digital international securities and is linked to Euroclear’s conventional settlement platform, providing investors with the opportunity to hold digitally native notes through their existing access to the traditional Euroclear architecture.

Peter Crossan, lead partner on the transaction commented: “We are delighted to have partnered with Citi and BMO to support AIIB’s desire to be at the forefront of digital transformation and development in the capital markets. We were pleased to be able to use our breadth and depth of experience in capital markets and financial markets regulation across English and Belgian law to find solutions to the legal and regulatory issues inherent in new and developing market infrastructures such as the D-FMI platform”.

The A&O Shearman team advising the Joint Lead Managers was led from London by capital markets partner Peter Crossan alongside senior associate Michael Hossack and associate Lachlan Hopwood, with Belgian law support from partner Slyvia Kierszenbaum and associate Maxime Leleu in Brussels. The team in London advising the agent was led by capital markets partner Morgan Krone alongside senior associate Louisa Ingham and associate Esi Armah-Tetteh.