US-based real-world asset tokenisation company, Securitize, has officially started to issue tokenised securities in Europe. As a result, it becomes the first digital asset platform with securities licenses in both the US and Europe.
Securitize has begun issuing digital asset security tokens representing equity in Mancipi SA, a Spanish real estate investment trust (REIT) investing in commercial real estate in the Spanish health sector. Innovative location and geospatial data will be used to identify, acquire and develop investment opportunities. Mancipi revealed it aims to raise €150million, with its registered advisor for this capital raise ILP Lawyers.
The news follows the June 2022 announcement that Securitize had been accepted into the test environment (or sandbox) for digital asset securities led by the Spanish General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Finance (CNMV).
Within this sandbox, CNMV will monitor Securitize as its issues and eventually facilitates the trading and settlement of tokenised shares, consistent with the European Union’s Distributed Ledger Technology Pilot Regime.
Carlos Domingo, the Spanish-born co-founder and CEO of Securitize, discussed the news: “Investing in private market alternative assets can be one of the most powerful ways to generate wealth, but these opportunities have historically been inaccessible to most people. Securitize is now the first firm to be able to issue and trade tokenized securities in both the U.S. and Europe, and is the first firm to do so under the EU’s new pilot regime for digital assets.
“European businesses will be a major beneficiary of this innovation, giving businesses a new way to raise capital through primary capital raises, and obtain potential tax benefits and liquidity through secondary trading.”
“Applying blockchain technology to the capital markets seems like a unique opportunity”
All shares will be issued and tokenised on the Avalanche public blockchain, and secondary trading of tokenised shares is anticipated to begin in September. Once Securitize has performed share issuance, trading and settlement services consistent with CNMV’s requirements, it anticipates receiving securities licenses in both Spain and throughout the European Union, and aims to be the first firm to do so in both the US and EU.
Ángel G. Maroto, CEO and manager of real estate assets at Mancipi SA, said: “We are very proud to be the first REIT that is going to operate in this new market promoted by Securitize, as it will offer great advantages to investors in terms of new investment systems equipped with security, transparency and agility, in addition to offering us the possibility of attracting new investors in the European market and the United States.”
Fernando Segarra, founding partner of Mancipi SA, added: “After dedicating a large part of my professional career to the real estate business, I have always been attracted by new technologies and applying blockchain technology to the capital markets seems like a unique opportunity.”
While Securitize’s approval to issue tokenised securities in Spain is new, the firm already has a significant presence in the country: much of its technology team is Spanish, while Banco Santander was also an early investor in the firm.
