Societe Generale - FORGE Partners with METACO

June 30, 2022 - Societe Generale - FORGE (SG - FORGE), a subsidiary of Societe Generale, providing issuers and investors with end-to-end services to issue, invest and manage digital-native security tokens registered on public blockchains, has selected METACO, a provider of digital asset management technology and infrastructure, to orchestrate its digital asset custody operations.

Since 2019, Societe Generale and its subsidiary SG - FORGE structured several native security token issuances deployed on blockchain for their clients such as the European Investment Bank's (EIB) €100 million digital bond issued in 2021.

Societe Generale is now offering a range of capital market products to institutional clients under a native security token format on Ethereum and Tezos with full banking level safety and regulatory compliance. The partnership enables SG - FORGE to integrate security tokens into traditional finance, and leverage METACO's digital asset custody and orchestration platform, Harmonize. These developments are taking place within a larger context marked by the acceleration of market digitalization using blockchain technology, notably through the forthcoming implementation of the EU Pilot Regime and which will permit the processing of security tokens through market infrastructures in compatibility with applicable EU regulations.

Security tokens allow for a fully digital issuance process and lifecycle. Due to their characteristics, they have the potential to improve efficiency, speed and transparency in financial markets and make transactions safer and more resilient, offering benefits similar to those of financial instruments issued in a conventional way.

Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of Societe Generale - FORGE commented: "Bridging the digital asset industry and traditional finance requires a multifaceted approach incorporating institutional-grade technology, regulation, as well as industrial capacities. By partnering with METACO, SG - FORGE will be able to leverage their secure infrastructure to ensure that we have a solid foundation to grow our digital asset market activities."

Adrien Treccani, CEO and Founder of METACO, commented: "Societe Generale plays a key role in shaping the future of finance. A leading innovator on digital securities, SG - FORGE is setting the standard for the asset class, providing a model for a fully regulated and integrated ecosystem across traditional and DLT-based systems of finance. We are proud to partner with SG - FORGE and provide our industry leading digital asset infrastructure to support the bank in its vision of bridging traditional and digital finance."

Alexandre Fleury Co-Head of Global Markets Activities, Societe Generale, commented: "Leveraging on the differentiating expertise of SG - FORGE and our intimate knowledge of markets activities, this partnership shows Societe Generale' capacity to step-by-step implement a truly innovative technology, thus helping build tomorrow's global capital market distribution approach and infrastructure."

A technology provider to regulated financial institutions in the digital asset ecosystem, METACO's infrastructure is supporting live implementations in various regulatory jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, and Singapore, with other projects in jurisdictions such as the United States, Australia and Hong Kong.