BBVA Leads Blockchain-Based Syndicated Loan of $150 Million with BNP Paribas and MUFG

Spain's second largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, has carried out a blockchain-based syndicated loan of $150 million, U.K.-based global financial news agency Finextra reports Wednesday, Nov. 7.

The syndicated bank transaction has been conducted on a private blockchain network through a group of three funding banks including French banking group BNP Paribas, Japan's bank holding Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and BBVA. Acting as the sole underwriter of the transaction, BBVA also secured the participation of a partly state-owned Spanish company Red Eléctrica de España, as well as two legal advisors, U.K.-based multinational law firms Linklaters and Herbert Smith Freehill.

The signed contract of the syndicated agreement has been recorded on the Ethereum public blockchain after each step along the way had been recorded on the Hyperledger technology-based network.

In order to ensure the immutability of data against third parties, the contract signatures were been placed on blockchain as unique document identifiers, Finextra notes.

BBVA's head of global finance Ricardo Laiseca commented that the recent blockchain-related initiative by the bank is a part of the company's attempt to provide corporate clients with "The most innovative financing solutions."

In mid-September, BBVA's chairman Francisco Gonzalez Rodriguez stated that blockchain technology is "Perfect," and provides "Big, big tools." Rodriguez also stressed that cryptocurrencies that are based on blockchain technology are often used for "Bad purposes" and "Must be understood."

Earlier this summer, BBVA signed an agreement with Spanish energy company Repsol to jointly develop blockchain-enabled tools for corporate banking.