BME, a SIX company, 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’ digital asset strategy and is complementary to SDX, SIX’ first fully regulated digital exchange and Central Securities Depository, which is a pilot project of the Swiss National Bank on Central Bank Currency (wCBDC).
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’.
