The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has made digitalisation a central pillar of its strategy for 2026‑30, saying modern digital infrastructure — including digital bonds and blockchain‑based systems — will be critical to improving market access, transparency and investor outreach across the economies where it invests. The Bank’s new Digital Approach frames digital technology as a strategic enabler of transition, linking capital‑markets modernisation to tools that reduce administrative barriers and support cross‑border integration.
The EBRD, a multilateral development bank founded in 1991, operates across central and eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Türkiye and the southern and eastern Mediterranean. Its mandate is to support countries in their transition to sustainable market economies, with a focus on competitiveness, good governance, green growth, inclusion, resilience and regional integration. Digitalisation is now positioned as one of two strategic enablers in the Bank’s overarching Strategic and Capital Framework for 2026‑30, alongside the mobilisation of private capital.
In the Digital Approach, the Bank highlights the growing importance of digital tools in capital‑market development. It says digitalisation can “play a transformative role in modernising capital markets infrastructure, reducing administrative barriers and enabling more proactive outreach to connect issuers with potential investors… for example, with products such as digital bonds and blockchain technology.” This marks one of the clearest statements to date from a multilateral development bank on the role of tokenisation and distributed‑ledger infrastructure in emerging‑market capital‑markets reform.
The strategy also notes that the rise of fintech, digital assets and cryptocurrencies is reshaping financial services, particularly in markets affected by correspondent‑banking de‑risking. It points to EU regulatory frameworks — including MiCA for crypto‑asset issuers and service providers, and DORA for operational resilience — as emerging benchmarks for responsible digital‑market development. The Bank warns that several non‑EU economies still face gaps in regulatory capacity, creating risks of fragmentation and cyber vulnerability.
Cyber‑resilience is presented as a cross‑cutting priority, with the Bank citing the growing frequency and cost of cyber‑attacks and the need for financial institutions to incorporate cyber audits and cyber‑risk assessments into credit processes. Digitalisation of trade, ESG verification and digital product passports are also identified as areas where modern infrastructure will be essential for competitiveness.
The EBRD says digitalisation will underpin its investment, policy and advisory work across all sectors, with capital‑markets infrastructure one of the areas where the impact could be most immediate.
The report can be found on the ERBD’s website.
