Expected to be live by the third quarter of 2025, leading global bank Citi and SDX, part of SIX Group, are developing a scalable solution that will make shares in high-growth, venture-backed private companies much more accessible to investors.
Citi and SDX today announced their collaboration at the Point Zero Forum in Switzerland that addresses challenges associated with traditional private markets for global issuers and investors. Citi will be tokenizing, settling and safekeeping assets on SDX’s digital Central Securities Depositary (CSD) platform and will bring late-stage pre-IPO equities to institutional and eligible investors on the SDX platform.
For high-growth, pre-IPO companies the solution will present a novel and compliant model to simplify liquidity management for early investors and employees while enabling cap table control.
The collaboration leverages Citi’s expertise in securities services and private market investments, and SDX’s regulated infrastructure for digital securities.
SDX, part of SIX Group, operates a stock exchange licensed by FINMA through SDX Trading AG and SIX Digital Exchange AG, Switzerland’s first and only Central Securities Depository (CSD) on DLT.
The collaboration between Citi and SDX further supports the development of the Swiss digital asset ecosystem and its connectivity with key global markets worldwide. Global digital asset banking group, Sygnum, and Singapore-based financial institution, SBI Digital Markets, will facilitate access to the pre-IPO equities that Citi will bring onto the SDX platform to their clients in Europe and Asia, respectively.
David Newns, Head of SDX, said, “We are excited to welcome Citi to the SDX platform and together deliver this landmark project in the tokenization of private shares. This initiative will distinguish itself in the industry by using SDX’s regulated blockchain based technology to enable the efficient distribution of shares in mature international private companies, which are expected to generate strong investor interest."
Marni McManus, Citi Country Officer & Head of Banking for Switzerland, Monaco & Liechtenstein, said, “Switzerland's regulatory framework and SDX's infrastructure allows Citi to bring a new solution to market using technology to solve for challenges in private markets for issuers and investors. Private markets is a major and growing opportunity and our work with SDX promises to simplify and digitize what is essentially a manual and paper-driven industry today.”
(Press release / SK)
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The new Swiss Venture Capital Report was published on 26 January. It analyses 304 financing rounds closed in 2020 and includes further article such as an interview with Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board, and a list of Swiss "soonicorns". 
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