UK Taps Six Banks to Lead First Digital Gilt, Targeting Q1 2027

TREE NEWS update: The UK government has appointed Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest and RBC Capital Markets as joint lead managers for its first digital-native gilt, the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT), expected to launch in the first quarter of 2027. The banks will handle underwriting, investor communication and distribution. DIGIT will be issued through a platform inside the UK Digital Securities Sandbox, testing distributed ledger technology across the gilt’s issuance and full lifecycle, including on-chain settlement.