By Anna Irrera | Updated on Oct 06, 2026 at 01:08 PM
The UK Treasury has appointed six banks — including Barclays Plc, Morgan Stanley and HSBC Holdings Plc — as joint lead managers for the pilot issuance of the country’s digital gilt instruments, as part of a push to modernize how the nation’s capital markets operate.
Lloyds, NatWest, and RBC Capital Markets were also chosen to lead the bond sale, which is expected to take place by the first quarter of 2027, the UK Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday.
Earlier this year government had chosen HSBC as supplier of the blockchain platform which will be used to issue, distribute and settle digital gilts, known as DIGIT.
The move comes as governments and large financial institutions increasingly explore how the technology underpinning cryptocurrency can be used to change the way securities are created and transferred. The hope is that the process — known as tokenization — can make transactions and record-keeping involving assets such as bonds, stocks and funds faster and cheaper.
The DIGIT pilot is part of the UK’s broader effort to digitize wholesale financial markets and bolster the country’s competitiveness as new new technologies reshape finance, according to the statement.
“Digitalisation is central to ensuring that the UK can be a global hub for digital assets and the government’s commitment to the issuance of a digital gilt is a core part of this agenda,” Lucy Rigby, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said in a statement.
The pilot will test how blockchain can be applied across the issuance and life cycle of the bond, the Treasury said.
Despite growing activity, digitally issued securities still account for a sliver of global markets, due in part to the lack of liquid secondary markets for some of these assets.