London, 11 May 2022

agora Digital Capital Markets (“agora”), today announced that the company has become authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

agora believes technology that enables the on-ledger representation of digital assets should be sound, stable, resilient and able to provide the market with accurate, useable data. These are all principles that underpin financial regulation in the UK. The company’s authorisation by the FCA (FRN: 938487) recognises these principles.  

Separately, agora announced a receipt of a series of global certifications that enhance its commitment to building the first secure, sustainable and truly end-to-end digital workflow for fixed income products, through the agoraPlatform. 

agora secured ISO 27001 certification for its information security management system in 2021. This certification is designed to ensure that only authorised persons have the right to access and change information, providing further assurance that sensitive pricing and other commercial information is secure through the complete lifecycle of the asset.  

agora also received ISO 14001 certification. This certificate focuses on the company’s environmental management systems and aims for a more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste. ISO 14001 certification is part of agora’s wider ESG strategy that starts with the internal operations, a key area as agora serves issuers, banks and other service providers who want to remain at the forefront of ESG and sustainability initiatives.   

Charlie Berman, co-founder and CEO at agora, said: “From day one, we at agora have understood that it requires ecosystem input from issuers, banks, regulators and others to enable origination and lifecycle management of securities as they exist today in a digital environment. We also know that all participants desire to build a safer, more sustainable infrastructure. Today’s news shows several concrete steps we have taken towards building a safer, more sustainable infrastructure that has already been validated by existing and future customers.” 

agora has been making strong progress this year. In February the firm announced the completion of a multilateral pilot session of its syndicated bond product. Last month Italian bank Mediobanca became the first institution to use agora’s smart contracts and DLT in the issuance and lifecycle management of investments, driving down costs and time to market. 

About agora Digital Capital Markets  

agora Digital Capital Markets (registered as Digital Debt Capital Markets Ltd.) is a UK based technology company focused on transforming the entire lifecycle of financial instruments from issuance to redemption using distributed ledger and smart contracting technology. agora’s software enables the first truly end-to-end digital workflow for the entire lifecycle of a bond, structured product, MTN or certificate through the deployment of its agoraPlatform. agora enhances, upgrades and improves communication and processes throughout a financial instrument’s lifecycle – from the pre-mandate or structuring stage, during execution, pricing and primary settlement and throughout the post-trade lifecycle until its final redemption.