(ATF) This week it was officially announced that an application called Bonds.PH , operating under the Philippines Union Bank, will allow investors to purchase retail treasury bonds at a minimum price of $100.
It will also allow the use of electronic wallets, online banking and market over-the-counter (OTC) payments.
Netease in China quoted Philippine Finance Minister Rosalia V. De Leon as saying in a statement: “The launch of Bonds.PH paves the way for all Filipinos, especially those without bank accounts, to make it easy and affordable to invest in BTr latest Retail Treasury bonds, RTB-24 or Progreso bonds. The mobile application provides a promising investment opportunity for everyone, and hopes to bring financial help to the economic recovery of the Republic and the response to the Covid-19 epidemic.”
The platform will record transactions in the DLT infrastructure and the old centralised system. DLT is a decentralised database managed by multiple participants, across multiple nodes. Blockchain is a type of DLT where transactions are recorded with an immutable cryptographic signature called a hash.
According to Edwin R. Bautista, President and CEO of Union Bank, this is the first DLT-based system in Asia, and it may also be the world’s first system for retail government bond distribution.
Bautista said: The Philippines is ready to lead the direction of future development, and through innovative and inclusive opportunities promoted by emerging technologies, the country will be ‘technological-ised’ for the benefit of all Filipinos.”
In addition, the bond issuance platform is also supported by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as by the Singapore market regulator and other city-state blockchain and financial technology associations.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Financial Technology Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said: “2020 will be the year of commercialisation of blockchain technology in the Asean region. The steady development of a process.
“Singapore’s blockchain community will also cooperate with the Philippines to share learning results, open source resources, and promote the connection of corresponding nodes to integrate market infrastructure to improve transparency and interoperability.”
