The initiative is powered by Northern Trust’s Matrix Zenith digital assets platform, which is responsible for minting and holding the green bond reporting token.
On Monday, January 13, the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced the launch of the country’s first blockchain-based green bond reporting tokenization initiative in collaboration with Northern Trust, a financial services company, and the Singapore arm of the United Overseas Bank (UOB).
The move marks a significant milestone for NUS, making it the first university in Singapore to integrate blockchain technology into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting.
A First-of-Its-Kind Initiative
The launch of the green bond reporting token represents the first step in NUS’ larger plan to leverage blockchain technology for advancing green finance.
The initiative stemmed from a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Northern Trust, signed in November 2024, which focuses on pioneering research and developing practical solutions to address key challenges in ESG finance.
NUS lauded the new blockchain project as the “first-of-its-kind initiative” designed to leverage the public ledger to enhance transparency, data integrity, and investor confidence in sustainable investment practices.
According to the announcement, the initiative is a key milestone in green finance innovation as it primarily focuses on tokenizing green bond credentials. It offers a secure and immutable platform to store and share environmental impact data.
The green bond reporting token will house environmental data from NUS’ third green bond, issued in 2023. This move aligns NUS’ green finance practices with global transparency and regulatory standards, ensuring a stronger foundation for ESG-focused investments.
Technological Backbone
The project is part of Project Guardian, an initiative spearheaded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to explore the potential of asset tokenization in improving liquidity and efficiency in financial markets.
Falling under the fixed-income workstream of Project Guardian, the collaboration will demonstrate the practical benefits of tokenizing bonds and other fixed-income securities.
NUS said the initiative is powered by Northern Trust’s Matrix Zenith digital assets platform, which is responsible for minting and holding the green bond reporting token.
As for UOB, the bank will act as the lead arranger of the bond issuance, providing critical feedback to ensure that the tokenized data meets the standards required for reliable sustainability reporting.
Under the initiative, investors will have access to a complete set of unaltered information, even as the bond changes hands. According to the announcement, this approach guarantees data integrity and reliability, offering investors the confidence they need to meet their sustainability reporting obligations and achieve their ESG goals.
Speaking on the initiative, Tan Kian Woo, Senior Vice President and Chief Finance Officer at NUS, said the university aims to improve transparency, accountability, and impact within the sustainable finance sector.
“We are proud to be leading this first-in-market green bond reporting tokenization initiative in partnership with Northern Trust and UOB. This project is a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to advancing green finance innovation. By creating a token that enhances the integrity and transparency of our environmental data, we aim to provide greater confidence to investors, helping them meet their sustainability reporting goals,” said Tan Kian Woo, a top executive at NUS.
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