A US$1 billion digital US commercial paper programme has been established to provide a new short-term USD funding avenue for OCBC.

Singapore, 25 August 2025 – OCBC has leveraged blockchain to establish a US$1 billion digital US commercial paper (USCP) programme, unlocking near-instantaneous short-term US dollar funding capabilities for the bank. This near-instant settlement is made possible by tokenised securities and funds being on-chain, enabling OCBC to receive funds within minutes.

This capability is an important milestone in OCBC’s continued drive to bolster liquidity resilience. In today’s uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape, the programme’s role as an alternative channel to tap the deep and liquid US$1.4 trillion USCP market to quickly raise USD, is especially relevant. It complements OCBC’s US$25 billion USCP programme – a conventional USCP programme – established in August 2011.

Besides issuance and settlement, the USCP’s record-keeping and servicing will also be done on-chain. This makes OCBC the first USCP issuer in the world to leverage blockchain across the securities’ entire lifecycle, reducing reliance on traditional infrastructure, intermediaries and legacy payments systems. Given the immutable and transparent nature of blockchain, parties involved in the transaction can view and verify the same set of data in real-time. This in turn enhances trust and accountability as there is an auditable record of transactions.

J.P. Morgan’s Digital Debt Service application, built on its multi-asset tokenisation platform Kinexys Digital Assets, will facilitate OCBC’s digital USCP programme. J.P. Morgan will also act as sole dealer.

The first USCP tokenised issuance under the programme took place on 20 August 2025. The six-month maturity notes were issued to an accredited institutional investor, with OCBC receiving the funds within minutes of the completed transaction.

Commercial papers are a relatively inexpensive funding source. The funds raised from this issuance, and all other funds raised under the US$1 billion digital USCP programme, will be used by OCBC for general funding purposes.

The digital USCP programme was assigned credit ratings of P-1 by Moody’s, and F1+ by Fitch. These are the highest ratings given by the rating agencies for short-term instruments.

This programme follows OCBC’s prior successes with J.P Morgan’s Digital Financing application for reverse repo and repo transactions. These capabilities were added in 2024, also as part of the bank’s drive to optimise and strengthen liquidity management.

Mr Kenneth Lai, OCBC’s Head of Global Markets, said, “Singapore’s blockchain ecosystem is advancing fast, and asset tokenisation is gaining real momentum. Our focus is now firmly on commercialisation. We have already tapped blockchain for intraday repo and reverse repo transactions—capabilities added last year—and are now expanding into the USCP market to strengthen liquidity and resilience. OCBC is no stranger to this space, but our new digital USCP programme will deepen investor engagement and sharpen our global capital markets profile. The speed and transparency of this solution have only strengthened our conviction in blockchain’s transformative power for capital markets.”

Scott Lucas, Head of Markets Digital Assets at J.P. Morgan, commented, “J.P Morgan’s Digital Debt Service provides an additional way for issuers and investors to participate in the USCP market and OCBC’s issuance has demonstrated this in practice. Our partnership with OCBC in support of developing both their access to the US market and their digital agenda is aligned to our commitment of offering innovative liquidity solutions.”