Cité Gestion, an independent Swiss private bank, is using Taurus technology to tokenize its own shares, becoming the first private bank to issue shares as ledger-based securities under Swiss law.
The bank will partner with digital assets firm Taurus to issue its tokenized shares, as well as manage the smart contract that creates the shares and perform asset servicing of its securities.
Tokenization, or the digitization of various asset classes, has been a popular trend among financial institutions as it allows them to attract more investors by using blockchain technology.
This move follows similar moves by other financial institutions such as Hamilton Lane and KKR, who have also been tokenizing their funds to make private market investments available to a broader set of investors.
The tokenization of Cité Gestion’s shares was carried out in accordance with standards established by the Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA), and recorded on Ethereum.
Taurus, which was founded in April 2018, has been involved in the tokenization of 15 companies so far, covering equity, private debt, and structured products from firms in Switzerland as well as Europe.