NUS, Northern Trust and UOB tokenize green bond reporting in a first-of-its-kind initiative

Singapore's National University of Singapore (NUS) has teamed up with Northern Trust and UOB to launch a first-of-its-kind initiative to tokenize green bond reporting, as announced in a statement on Monday.

This project leverages blockchain technology to enhance transparency and accountability in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of green finance.

The initiative centers around Northern Trust's digital assets platform, Matrix Zenit, which will be used to mint and hold a green bond reporting token. The token will securely encapsulate the environmental impact data from NUS' third green bond, issued in 2023.

This tokenization ensures that the bond's environmental impact data remains reliable and unaltered, even as the bond is traded. UOB, being the lead arranger for NUS' green bond issuance, will play a key role in refining the usability of tokenized data for sustainability reporting practices, according to the announcement.

The initiative falls under Project Guardian, a global program led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to explore the benefits of asset tokenisation. Specifically, the NUS green bond reporting token is part of the fixed income workstream of the project, aiming to set new benchmarks for transparency and compliance in green finance.

"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, senior vice president and chief finance officer at NUS. “This is only the beginning, as we continue to push boundaries in sustainable financial practices.”

The collaboration between NUS and Northern Trust will be further extended through a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in November 2024. This partnership will involve fostering cutting-edge research in ESG finance and exploring new applications for blockchain technology in sustainable financial practices.