SIX invests in OpenBrick, a digital platform of tokenized securities for real estate projects in Spain
- BME, a SIX Company, becomes one of the main shareholders of OpenBrick
- The investment reinforces SIX's commitment to digital assets
- OpenBrick, founded by Grupo Lar, Renta 4 Banco and ioBuilders, adds BME, Garrigues and Teras Capital as strategic partners to the project
- OpenBrick, via BME, expects to obtain the EU license to operate as a market in 2025
BME today announced its investment in OpenBrick, a digital platform for the issuance, management, trading and settlement of tokenized securities linked to real estate projects. The company, founded by Grupo Lar, Renta 4 Banco and ioBuilders, welcomes BME, Garrigues and Teras Capital as strategic partners.
OpenBrick has developed a platform with blockchain technology connecting issuers, investors and financial intermediaries with a wide range of real estate projects (residential, accommodation, offices, commercial, logistics, etc.), whose negotiable securities can be acquired in a primary market and subsequently traded in a secondary market, ultimately providing liquidity to each investment portfolio. The market will also act as a non-bank financing channel, in which different real estate players (developers, management companies, operators, etc.) will be able to obtain funds to develop projects more rapidly and at lower cost compared to traditional financing channels.
The added value of this new company is based on the integration of blockchain technology in a market specialized in the real estate sector, which allows raising funds through the issuance of equity or debt instruments in a faster and more efficient way. Specifically, OpenBrick will launch its first project with Alquiler Seguro for the purchase and rental of homes in the Madrid region.
OpenBrick received a favorable pre-assessment for admission to the CNMV Sandbox in February 2023 and, via BME, expects to obtain the EU license to operate in 2025. BME, through the Spanish Central Securities Depository (Iberclear), will assume the role of platform operator and will be the entity in charge of managing the trading and settlement system with DLT technology (SNL) under the EU Pilot Regime.
‘With this investment, SIX will position itself as a major player in the EU's digital agenda and in the evolution of financial markets. This investment is part of SIX' commitment to play a leading role in the future of financial markets by entering new assets and exploring the options of innovative technologies such as DLT. In this case, applied to the real estate sector, which is traditionally highly valued by investors in Spain. Furthermore, we are investing alongside highly reputable partners in each of their respective sectors, so we are convinced that this is the first step of a long and successful journey’, explains Javier Hernani, Head Securities Services and Member of the Executive Board of SIX.
"This initiative reinforces SIX's digital assets strategy and is complementary to SDX, the world's first fully regulated digital securities exchange and central securities depository (CSD), part of SIX Group, home of the Swiss National Bank Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC) pilot.
Carlos Matilla, CEO of OpenBrick, highlights that ‘OpenBrick facilitates financing through tokenisation, offering a new marketplace as a source of agile financing for different real estate players and reducing entry barriers for people interested in investing in the sector’.
About SIX
SIX operates a fully integrated exchange value chain across the Swiss and Spanish financial centres, thus ensuring access to the capital markets and the flow of information and money between financial market players. SIX offers a diversified product portfolio for securities trading, stock market transactions, financial information and payment transactions across four business units: (i) Exchanges, with SIX Swiss Exchange and BME Exchange delivering listing, trading and market data services of cash equities, derivatives and fixed income; (ii) Securities Services, offering clearing, settlement and custody, securities finance, tax services and trade repository services; (iii) Financial Information, offering reference, corporate actions and market data, tax and regulatory services, indices and ESG data; (iv) Banking Services, delivering payment services including connectivity (open banking), debit and mobile solutions, billing and payments, and cash and ATMs.
About OpenBrick
OpenBrick will be part of the EU DLT Pilot Regime and is in the process of obtaining, through its regulated partner Iberclear, a license as a Trading and Settlement System, in addition to ERIR to enable the registration of financial instruments in DLT technology. The Company was awarded as the most innovative digital platform in the III Edition of the Financial Innovation Awards 2024. OpenBrick's Board of Directors is chaired by Luis Pereda (Grupo Lar) and it is composed by Carlos Matilla, as CEO, and, as Directors, Jaime Silio (BME), Moisés Menéndez (Garrigues) and Miguel Jaureguizar (Renta 4), who bring their experience in the real estate, financial, legal and technology sectors.
