The scope of operations will cover Traditional Mutual Funds, Real Estate, Private Debt, Private Equity, Commercial Credits, Works of Art and Collectibles with the aim of making the vast world of alternative investments accessible within a transparent system even to small savers. Not only that. Thanks to the split, they will be able to invest in asset classes that are normally difficult to access. The Cetif platform has been designed to issue and place Security Tokens of even minimal value, while simultaneously increasing transparency and streamlining and simplifying processes. Through Security Token issuance, it is also possible to radically innovate asset securitization processes (tangible, intangible and commercial), making use of Distributed Ledgers (literally "distributed ledger") Technologies or Permissionless Blockchain. By doing so, the investor (professional and/or retail) has the opportunity to access alternative, liquid and highly profitable forms of investment.
Distribution still off limits
Beware, however, because at present the exchangeability of these instruments is not yet possible. In Italy itself, work is being done to prepare a suitable regulatory framework. Consob has submitted a draft regulatory hypothesis to the Mef based on what exists in other countries. At the EU level in 2023, the so-called "pilot regime" on which work has been underway since 2020 with the proposed regulation introducing measures to support the potential of digital finance in terms of innovation and competition, mitigating its risks for investors, should also be fired in 2023.
BPER Banca, Banca Generali, Banca Mediolanum, Reale Group and Iccrea have already joined the platform designed by Cetif in an ecosystem logic and therefore open to the Authorities and all institutions/companies in the relevant ecosystem. "In 2021 we started the experimentation, aimed at the subsequent go-to market, of our ecosystem tokenization platform, in the context of a project to make the alternative investment market broader and more transparent," says Imanuel Baharier, General Manager of Cetif Advisory , "now the goal is to test with all interested financial institutions, the actual issuance of Security Token of the different asset classes of alternatives. These will be 'last mile' pilots, which can take place in the special framework offered by the MEF's Sandbox Regulatory during 2022 (upon acceptance of the application) or outside of it (when no regulatory exemptions prove necessary)."
Operations
Operationally, the platform, based on DLT/Blockchain technology, allows originators to demobilize all or part (through splitting) of the owned asset, obtaining liquidity from it even when it is illiquid. To advisors/dealers (commercial and investment banks) to expand the offering by structuring and placing security tokens with institutional and retail investors who, in turn, can diversify their portfolios.
On the interest of these asset classes in 2021 Cefit Advisory conducted a survey at the end of the first phase of the trial, which showed a high appreciation of the platform: nearly 90 percent of the institutions involved had noted strong customer interest in investing through tokens, and more than 70 percent believe it is a real possibility that the Cetif platform could be launched in the market by 2023, where the regulatory framework is clear.
2023 DLT Pilot Regime
Year in which the "pilot scheme" on which the European Commission has been working since 2020 with the proposed regulation introducing measures to support the potential