HSBC has become the first applicant to be approved by the Bank of England to go live in the UK’s digital securities sandbox (DSS). 
The approval means HSBC Orion, the bank’s digital assets platform, can now operate within the DSS as a digital securities depository (DSD), supporting digitally native bond issuance, servicing and settlement. That remit covers corporate bonds as well as DIGIT, the UK’s planned digital gilt instrument.
DIGIT is set to be issued by Q1 2027. UK government has confirmed it is taking steps to prepare for potential future issuances.
The DSS is jointly run by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority. It gives firms a live, adaptable regulatory setting in which to trial new technologies, including distributed ledger technology, across the full lifecycle of issuing, trading and settling securities in the UK market.
Patrick George, global head of markets and securities services at HSBC, said: “We welcome the Bank of England’s approval for HSBC Orion to be the first digital assets platform to go live in the digital securities sandbox. Having been appointed earlier this year as the issuance platform provider for the DIGIT, we look forward to the inaugural DIGIT pilot issuance, which will be a key event for digital assets in the UK.”
The milestone follows an announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at Mansion House, where the timeframe for the first DIGIT issuance was set out, with the pilot now expected in early 2027.
HM Treasury today, 16 July 2026, published an update to the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) pilot issuance, confirming that HSBC and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) have signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver a bilateral Digital Securities Depository link.
The move is set to “support investor access to the pilot issuance and enable investors to access and hold DIGIT through either infrastructure, reducing fragmentation between digital platforms and supporting broader participation in the pilot.”
Read more: LSEG to develop on-chain settlement capability through digital securities depository
Julia Hoggett, chief executive, London Stock Exchange, and head of figital and securities markets, LSEG, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with HSBC to enable additional settlement optionality for the market, and to support the DIGIT pilot as an additional Investor DSD.
“We look forward to helping HM Treasury deliver the UK’s first digital government bond issuance, an important milestone in advancing innovation, strengthening the UK’s leadership in digital finance, and shaping the future of our capital market.”