Gowling WLG advised RBC Investor Services in connection with Project Samara, a groundbreaking collaboration between the Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada (EDC), RBC and TD to evaluate how tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) can enhance bond issuance and settlement in Canada.

As part of the project, EDC successfully issued Canada’s first tokenized bond security directly on blockchain infrastructure, a milestone achievement in the evolution of Canada’s capital markets. The initiative tested the real-world feasibility of a DLT-based platform supporting the full lifecycle of a bond, including issuance, settlement and secondary trading, and explored both the efficiencies and governance considerations associated with distributed ledger technology in a regulated financial environment.

A Gowling WLG team led by Adam Garetson, leader of the firm’s Blockchain & Digital Assets Practice Group, provided commercial and regulatory advice in support of RBC Investor Services’ role in the initiative, with a focus on the regulation of digital assets and tokenization and commercial contracting.