The Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE) has facilitated a tokenised corporate bond issuance through its Electronic Bond Platform, marking a major step in India’s experiment with blockchain-based securities under SEBI’s new Demat 2.0 pilot.
IIFL Finance Issues Tokenised Bond
The issuance was undertaken by IIFL Financewith Trust Investment Advisors acting as the arranger. The transaction forms part of the regulatory sandbox launched jointly by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Under Demat 2.0, corporate bonds are created as digital tokens on a distributed ledgerwhile ownership records continue to be maintained by India’s statutory depositories.
The MSE transaction is significant because it brings tokenisation into the existing regulated corporate bond infrastructure rather than creating a separate market outside the established financial system.
How Demat 2.0 Works
The tokenised bonds are connected to the RBI’s wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) through the Unified Market Interface.
This enables what regulators call atomic settlementmeaning the bond and the corresponding money can move simultaneously. Under the conventional system, settlement can take two to three days after bidding.
The new infrastructure is also designed to automate parts of bond servicing. Interest and redemption payments can eventually be executed through smart contracts, with payments credited directly to investors’ CBDC wallets on the due date.
Three Bonds Worth ₹1,025 Crore
The IIFL Finance transaction is the third tokenised corporate bond issued under the pilot.
REC Limited was the first, raising ₹500 crore from 18 investors on September 7. L&T followed with another ₹500 crore issue on September 9, involving four investors. IIFL Finance subsequently raised ₹25 crore from one investor.
Together, the three transactions amount to ₹1,025 crore.
SEBI and RBI launched Demat 2.0 at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai on September 10.
Bond Rules Remain Unchanged
Despite the use of blockchain technology, tokenised bonds remain the same financial instruments under Indian law.
The issuer’s obligation to repay investors does not change, while existing requirements relating to credit ratings, debenture trustees, listing and disclosures continue to apply.
Investors can hold the tokenised bonds in their existing demat accounts without opening a separate securities account or completing fresh KYC.
Retail Access Could Come Later
The pilot is being rolled out in phases. The initial stage focuses on issuance, while later stages are expected to introduce secondary-market trading through existing request-for-quote platforms.
Retail investor access is also planned for a later phase.
If the experiment succeeds, tokenisation could eventually make India’s corporate bond market faster and more automated while reducing manual reconciliation, settlement risk and servicing costs.
Summary: MSE has facilitated a tokenised corporate bond issued by IIFL Finance under SEBI and RBI’s Demat 2.0 pilot. The bonds use distributed ledger technology, while settlement takes place through RBI’s wholesale CBDC. Three issuers—REC, L&T and IIFL Finance—have so far raised a combined ₹1,025 crore through the pilot, with secondary trading and retail access planned for later phases.