Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE) has facilitated its first tokenised corporate bond issuance through its Electronic Bond Platform (MSE EBP) as part of SEBI’s “Demat 2.0” pilot, aimed at exploring the tokenisation of corporate bonds under the regulator’s Regulatory Sandbox framework.
The issuance was undertaken by IIFL Finance Ltd., with Trust Investment Advisors Pvt. Ltd. acting as the arranger. Under the pilot, corporate bonds are issued natively on a distributed ledger, while ownership records continue to be maintained with statutory depositories and settlement is carried out using Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) within the existing regulated market infrastructure.
SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and RBI Governor Sanjeev Malhotra launched the pilot at Global Fintech Fest 2026, bringing together stakeholders from market infrastructure institutions, financial markets, fintech and technology sectors.
In Kolkata, the initiative could strengthen interest in technology-driven debt-market infrastructure among investors and intermediaries, particularly as greater transparency, faster settlement and wider access become increasingly important for corporate bond participation.
MSE MD and CEO Latika S. Kundu said the pilot would help combine technology with trusted market infrastructure to enable more efficient, transparent and secure capital formation.