Singapore’s OCBC has established a US$1 billion digital US commercial paper programme using blockchain technology.

OCBC says the programme unlocks near-instantaneous short-term US dollar funding capabilities. This near-instant settlement is made possible by tokenised securities and funds being on-chain, enabling OCBC to receive funds within minutes.

Besides issuance and settlement, the programme’s record-keeping and servicing will also be done on-chain.

JP Morgan’s Digital Debt Service application, built on its Kinexys platform, will facilitate OCBC programme, with the US giant also acting as sole dealer.

Kenneth Lai, head, global markets, OCBC, says: “Singapore’s blockchain ecosystem is advancing fast, and asset tokenisation is gaining real momentum. Our focus is now firmly on commercialisation.

“We have already tapped blockchain for intraday repo and reverse repo transactions—capabilities added last year—and are now expanding into the USCP market to strengthen liquidity and resilience.”