Davis Polk advised the sole dealer in connection with National Bank of Canada’s $150 million issuance of a one-year floating-rate Yankee certificate of deposit and parallel simulation of the issuance using J.P. Morgan’s blockchain technology. The parties simulated the execution of the actual transaction through a debt issuance application developed by J.P. Morgan that runs on Quorum, an open-sourced variant of the Ethereum blockchain, specifically designed to incorporate functions across the entire debt instrument transaction lifecycle. This unique collaboration between leading market participants is considered an important milestone in progressing blockchain technology toward real financial markets applications.

National Bank of Canada provides integrated financial services to consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations in its domestic market, while offering specialized services internationally. With $251 billion in assets as at January 31, 2018, National Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada’s leading integrated financial groups. Its headquarters are located in Montreal, Canada, and its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Davis Polk capital markets team included partner Byron B. Rooney and associates Hillary A. Coleman and Jenny J. Choi. Partner John L. Douglas and counsel Zachary J. Zweihorn and Daniel E. Newman provided financial institutions advice. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York and Washington DC offices.