Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises ABN AMRO on its inaugural tokenized commercial paper issuance

Global law firm Clifford Chance advised ABN AMRO as transaction counsel in relation to its inaugural tokenized commercial paper issuance on a private blockchain operated by Clearstream.

With this groundbreaking issuance ABN AMRO demonstrated, together with Rabobank and ABN AMRO Clearing Bank as investors, its strong drive to be at the forefront of blockchain initiatives, reinforcing their standing as a frontrunner in this highly innovative space. The transaction took place in the context of the ECB trials and experiments, with the cash leg being settled in atomic fashion on the French Central Bank's DL3S Platform.

Dewi Walian, Counsel in Clifford Chance’s Amsterdam office, comments: "Our team is delighted to have partnered with our longstanding client ABN AMRO on its groundbreaking tokenized commercial paper issuance. I am very proud of this achievement. This transaction embodies our team’s core ambitions: working together with excellent people on complex cross-border issues in a digital reality. We strongly believe in the potential for distributed ledger technology in capital markets, including for commercial paper, and are very pleased to have been able to share our experience and expertise on another cutting-edge transaction in the Dutch market."

Alexander Tollast, Counsel in Clifford Chance’s Paris office, adds: "It is great to see so many actors taking advantage of the ECB trials and experiments. ABN AMRO in particular continues to lead the way in innovation. We are very happy to have advised on the various legal and documentary considerations that are relevant to such a transaction, leveraging our extensive know-how of the use of DLT in financial markets that has been built up over the past few years."

Clifford Chance advised on all aspects of this innovative transaction and looks forward to using the expertise and knowledge of its market-leading Debt Capital Markets practice to further expand the digital assets market. Clifford Chance's capital markets team advising ABN AMRO was led by Dewi Walian and furthermore consisted of Jurgen van der Meer, Marina Sarkisjan, Nolan Groenland, Robin Houtveen and Johan Anton Niesten from Clifford Chance’s Amsterdam office, Alexander Tollast from the Paris office and Boika Deleva from the Luxembourg office.