UK Taps Six Banks to Lead Digital Gilt Pilot by Q1 2027

The UK Treasury named Barclays, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and RBC Capital Markets as joint lead managers for its first digital gilt issuance, expected by Q1 2027. HSBC will supply the blockchain platform, DIGIT. The pilot, announced in a Tuesday statement, will test blockchain across the bond's issuance and life cycle as part of the UK's push to digitize wholesale capital markets. Treasury Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby said the digital gilt is central to making the UK a global hub for digital assets. Tokenized securities remain a small share of global markets, partly due to thin secondary-market liquidity, despite growing government and institutional exploration of the technology.