Clearstream Accelerates the Future of Securities with its Digital Issuance Platform D7

Clearstream, part of Deutsche Börse Group, is redefining the landscape of securities issuance with its D7 platform, a fully digital ecosystem designed to re-think and digitise post-trade infrastructure. Kicking off with the digital issuance process, D7 enables instant, secure and automated issuance of financial instruments. 

D7 - comprising D7 Digital and D7 DLT - is setting new standards for how market participants create, manage and distribute securities across Europe and beyond. 

A New Era of Issuance 

At the core of Clearstream’s D7 is D7 Digital, a service built in collaboration with Google Cloud that digitises the end-to-end process of issuing securities. The system allows issuers to create and register digital securities within seconds instead of formerly up to two days, eliminating many of the manual steps and paperwork historically required. 

Initially kicked off with the issuance of retail structured products in Germany, D7 Digital has since expanded to include a range of debt capital market instruments. The platform is designed to handle high volumes at speed: D7 currently processes over 45,000 digital issuances each week, covering more than two million issued securities and a total volume exceeding €44 billion. 

This digital workflow delivers same-day, zero-touch issuance, integrating seamlessly with issuers’ systems and central securities depositories. Its technology-agnostic conception allows participants to start product digitisation now and at their own speed without having to create a digital securities ecosystem on their own.  

Tokenisation Through D7 DLT 

Complementing the core digital issuance engine, D7 DLT introduces issuance based on distributed-ledger technology (DLT). Through tokenisation, securities can be issued and recorded on blockchain infrastructure, paving the way for new types of assets and settlement models. 

The D7 DLT framework has already featured in multiple trials of wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC). Between May and November 2024, Clearstream participated in a series of European Central Bank tests that explored tokenised commercial paper and intraday repo transactions. The experiments demonstrated how tokenisation and digital cash could interact within regulated market infrastructures. 

Clearstream’s involvement underscores its ambition to remain at the heart of Europe’s digital finance transformation. The company is preparing for broader integration with ECB-driven settlement initiatives such as Pontes, a short-term interoperability solution for DLT platforms, and Appia, a longer-term project aimed at harmonising distributed ledger settlement with central bank money. 

In parallel, Clearstream has established readiness for integration of commercial money-backed digital currencies and cryptocurrencies in the broader contact of Clearstream Banking Luxembourg S. A’s Crypto Asset Custody Solution. D7 is building the capability to service these instruments on its platform, enabling end-to-end digital processing of both securities and non-securities financial instruments, with readiness across crypto, stablecoins, and wCBDC. 

Efficiency, Transparency and Scale  

Clearstream’s digital issuance model brings notable advantages to issuers, intermediaries and investors alike: 

• Speed: Securities that once took days to issue can now be created in seconds.  
• Efficiency: Automated workflows minimise human intervention and reconciliation.  
• Transparency: Digital registers improve traceability and regulatory oversight.  
• Security: Electronic and tokenised records reduce the risk of loss or fraud.  
• Cost control: Streamlined operations lower administrative and settlement expenses. 
• Choice: Issuers can choose between different digital issuance models on D7 Digital and D7 DLT.  

With all securities recorded in a central digital register, Clearstream ensures reliable ownership tracking and compliance with European regulations. The move also reduces the environmental footprint associated with paper certificates and physical documentation. 

Preparing for Electronic Shares 

Looking ahead, Clearstream aims to extend its D7 infrastructure to cover electronic shares (e-shares) by the second half of 2026. This will allow companies to convert existing physical shares into electronic form within Clearstream’s central register, subject to shareholder approval and updates to corporate governance documents. 

The rollout of e-shares marks a significant milestone in Germany’s move toward a fully digital capital market, complementing the broader EU agenda for digital finance and DLT-based securities infrastructure. 

Integration With Europe’s Digital Finance Agenda 

The D7 platform is emerging as one of Europe’s most comprehensive responses to the digital transformation of market infrastructure. By combining conventional issuance with tokenised and API-driven processes, Clearstream is creating a model that aligns with current and upcoming European regulations and central bank frameworks. 

The company’s active participation in the ECB’s digital currency experiments, together with the interoperability projects Pontes and Appia, positions it as a bridge between traditional securities systems and future DLT-enabled environments.  

Industry analysts see this dual capability-operating within both legacy and next-generation infrastructures-as a crucial advantage during the transition period when digital and traditional assets will coexist. 

Transforming the Issuer-Investor Connection 

The practical impact of Clearstream’s digital issuance solutions is already visible in the market. Retail structured products, debt capital market instruments, and tokenised securities are all being issued through D7’s digital framework. 

Issuers benefit from faster time-to-market and reduced operational complexity. Investors gain more transparent ownership records and quicker settlement cycles. Regulators and overseers, in turn, have clearer visibility into market activity and improved data quality for supervision. 

By turning issuance into a near-real-time digital process, Clearstream enhances liquidity and responsiveness across the entire value chain—from origination to post-trade. 

Building a Future-Ready Infrastructure 

Beyond its technological innovation, Clearstream’s digital issuance strategy represents a broader vision of market modernisation. The company is investing in interoperable systems capable of supporting both central bank money and tokenised assets, as well as aligning with evolving legal frameworks for electronic securities. 

As digital finance becomes mainstream, infrastructures like D7 Digital and D7 DLT will serve as the backbone for a new generation of capital markets, markets where issuance is instantaneous, settlement is seamless, and transparency is embedded by design. 

Clearstream’s work on D7 demonstrates how established market infrastructures can lead the transition, combining regulatory reliability with digital agility. The platform’s continued evolution is likely to influence not only the German and European markets but also the global conversation on how securities are created and exchanged in the digital age. 

Clearstream Contact: 

Jens Hachmeister, Managing Director, Head of Issuer Services & New Digital Markets, Deutsche Börse Group 

Email: [email protected]