HM Treasury has appointed six major banks to help deliver the UK’s first “digitally native” government bond, as part of a pilot due to launch by early 2027.
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest and RBC Capital Markets have been named joint lead managers for the Digital Gilt Instrument, known as DIGIT, following a competitive selection process. Unlike conventional gilts, DIGIT will be built from the ground up using distributed ledger technology, with transactions settled directly on-chain.
The pilot will run within the Bank of England and FCA’s Digital Securities Sandbox and operate separately from the government’s main debt management programme. HSBC was appointed as the technology platform supplier in February, and has since agreed a memorandum of understanding with the London Stock Exchange Group to link the project to a digital securities depository.
The pilot is aimed at institutional investors rather than everyday borrowing or banking. It reflects a wider government push to modernise the UK’s financial infrastructure, which could eventually make raising and settling finance faster and cheaper, and is a sign of how quickly digital finance is evolving.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, said: “Digitalisation is central to ensuring that the UK can be a global hub for digital assets,” adding that the appointments marked further progress towards issuance in early 2027.