CMTA Tokenized Debt

The CMTA Tokenized Debt certification scheme provides certification marks that can be used by issuers of tokenized debt securities such as digital bonds, notes, or tokenized structured products in the form of ledger-based securities under Swiss law. The CMTA Tokenized Debt certification provides assurance to holders, operators of trading systems, and other business partners that a debt instrument has been tokenized in accordance with Swiss law and CMTA's industry standards. The certification marks "CMTA Tokenized Debt" and "CMTA Tokenized Debt (Program)" are registered with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property and will be launched soon. Sign up to the CMTA newsletter to be informed of the launch. 

Who can certify?

Companies that have issued tokenized debt instruments and followed standards set out by the CMTA can apply for certification. The CMTA Tokenized Debt scheme covers all forms of financial instruments that incorporate rights or claims that are contractual in nature, and have been issued as ledger-based securities under Swiss law. Companies applying for certification can be based in any jurisdiction.

Companies can choose to certify either a specific instrument or a program of multiple instruments.

Why certify?

The label "CMTA Tokenized Debt" or "CMTA Tokenized Debt (Program)" reduces the due diligence requirements by third parties by certifying:

• Compliance with Swiss law: The "CMTA Tokenized Debt" certification mark evidences that debt instruments issued in the form of ledger-based securities comply with the requirements of Article 973d of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) and therefore have the legal effects provided for in Article 973f CO. The "CMTA Tokenized Debt (Program)" certification mark evidences that, once issued under a particular debt issuance program, debt instruments will comply with such requirements and have those legal effects.
• Adherence to industry standards: CMTA’s "Standard for the Tokenization of Debt Instruments using the distributed ledger technology" was published following consultation of CMTA’s membership of leading actors from Switzerland’s financial, technological and legal sectors.
• Use of the open-source CMTAT smart contract(or equivalent functionality): the CMTAT framework has been developed specifically for the tokenization of financial instruments by a CMTA Technical Committee expert working group.
• Completion of due diligence by legal and technical experts: As part of the certification process, CMTA-recognized experts must verify aspects relating to the tokenized instruments and smart contract.

How to certify:

The main steps to becoming certified are:

• Step 1 Application: Choose a CMTA-recognized legal expert and tech provider to accompany you in the tokenization process and certification application
• Step 2 Verification: Legal expert and tech provider verify and confirm certain facts to the CMTA
• Step 3 Certification: Company is listed as certified and authorized to use the logo
• Step 4 Monitoring: CMTA monitors ongoing compliance