Milan, 1 April 2022 – Mediobanca has digitized its certificate issuance process using the agoraPlatform, an innovative platform that uses Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to achieve greater operational efficiency. The project, developed in conjunction with UK-based agora Digital Capital Markets (agora), facilitates growth in investment certificates, a market in which Mediobanca is one of the leading players with more than 300 issuances per annum.

This innovative platform also received the “MF Innovation Award” in the “Open Innovation: open investment certificate” category, given to Mediobanca at the 2022 Banking Awards organized by Class Editori.

agoraPlatform is the world’s first platform to use smart contracts and DLT in the issuance and life-cycle management of certificates. The platform significantly reduces the time to produce offering documentation for investment certificates issuance, an activity which normally requires the compilation of large volumes of repetitive information, which makes it liable to operating errors. Thanks to agoraPlatform, much of this information becomes automatic, meaning that manual input is limited to the initial phase only. Thus the platform gives Mediobanca an enormous competitive advantage, especially at a time when distributors are preferring issuers who not only offer competitive prices and efficiency but also an improved time-to-market in drawing up contracts, which is seen as a decisive factor in allocating investment choices in optimal fashion.

The infrastructure developed by agora facilitates seamless interaction between different units and departments in the Capital Markets Area (sale, structuring, negotiation and documentation) in a digital environment. This enables all issuance documents, including term sheets, final terms and any other ancillary documents, to be drawn up and finalized automatically. Such innovation is enabled by DLT and smart contracts, which facilitate the real-time synchronization of all players, internal and external, involved in the entire issuance process.

Following the initial launch of the platform in summer 2021 and full implementation over the year, Mediobanca now has over 20 active users of the product, and has already completed the first issues using this innovative platform.

Marco Pozzi, Mediobanca Group COO, commented: “Digitalizing issuance workflows is a new achievement for Mediobanca in its technology innovation road map, and makes it one of the first movers in the certificates market. Through this innovative platform, Mediobanca aims to increase the volume of issuances, and so satisfy the growing demand from its distributors. The adoption of DLT technology also lays the foundation for further automation of the life cycle post-trading, both internally and externally, in an ecosystem that in the future may include central securities depositories and issuing partners.”

Charlie Berman, co-founder and CEO of agora, said: “We are delighted Mediobanca selected agora as its partner in digitalizing workflows in the investment certificates market. By adopting the agoraPlatform, Mediobanca is now at the cutting edge of technology in the financial markets."

Mediobanca

Mediobanca is a diversified listed banking group. It is the leading Italian investment bank, on the back of its track record in lending, advisory and capital market services, and has a significant presence in Southern Europe. The Group today is one of the leading Italian players in consumer credit, and a high-quality operator in wealth management, serving clients in both the Affluent & Premier and Private & HNWI brackets. An established reputation based on professionalism and discretion, combined with capital quality and solidity, make Mediobanca today the ideal business partner for companies looking to grow in Italy and Europe.

agora - Digital Capital Markets (Digital Debt Capital Markets Ltd or DDCM)

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.

Mediobanca - Media Relations

Tel. no.: (0039) 02-8829.914/766

media.relations@mediobanca.com

agora – Media Relations

Jon Schubin

Tel. no.: (0044) 7307 063 066

agora@cognitomedia.com