State-owned Russian bank Sberbank has completed a repurchase agreement, or repo, using blockchain technology.
The bank announced Thursday that, with participation from Region Brokerage Company and the country's National Settlement Depository (NSD), it settled the “world’s first” three-way over-the-counter (OTC) repo using a smart contract. In a repo, securities are sold to an entity, with the seller agreeing to repurchase them at a pre-set future date and price. They are effectively short term loans.
For the trial, Sberbank acted as the seller, Region as the buyer and the NSD as a settlement agent. The deal was for a Russian rouble-denominated OTC repo secured by government loan bonds. The value of the instrument was not disclosed.