Six banks now have defined responsibilities in preparing Britain’s Digital Gilt Instrument, or DIGIT. HM Treasury’s 2 November announcement assigns documentation, communications and platform-support tasks ahead of the expected pilot issuance by the first quarter of 2027.
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest and RBC Capital Markets are involved. Treasury also reports Bank of England approval for a connection between HSBC and LSEG digital securities infrastructure, intended to provide alternative routes for investors.
The short-dated instrument will test distributed-ledger technology within the Digital Securities Sandbox and sit outside the main debt-management programme. These are preparation and infrastructure milestones; the announcement does not say that the bond has already been issued.
Sources
Original summary based on the sources above, checked for the November 3, 2026 edition. Reference dates are shown separately from the edition date.