iSTOX Singapore fractionalises SGX-listed wholesale bonds

By Edil Corneille

iSTOX announced that it has enhanced its bond program to allow for the issuance and trading of fractional wholesale bonds under medium-term notes (MTN) programmes listed on Singapore Exchange (SGX). In so doing, it will be able to bring SGX-listed wholesale bonds to a far wider pool of investors.

iSTOX has established a streamlined onboarding process for bonds issued out of approved MTN on SGX which will not require separate approvals from the iSTOX Listing Committee. Alternatively, under the iSTOX bond program, investors can gain exposure to MTNs via structured notes.

Being an issuance, custody and trading platform for digitised securities, investors with iSTOX accounts can subscribe to and trade these bonds in slices smaller than S$200,000, the smallest size currently available on SGX.

“Bonds are a key part of an investor’s portfolio, particularly in uncertain times such as these,” said Choo Oi Yee, iSTOX’s Chief Commercial Officer. “SGX has over US$1 trillion issued in wholesale bonds, all of which are all issued and traded in sizes above S$200,000. We want to offer accredited investors the ability to invest and trade in select bonds in sizes appropriate to their overall portfolio size. For bond issuers, this will open up an additional pool of demand, so this is good news for both parties.”

In addition to smaller quantum amounts, the technology that underpins the digitised security infrastructure of iSTOX means that investors will also benefit from instant settlement and the ability to trade their digitised bond security holdings on iSTOX’s secondary market.