Electronic Bills of Lading as Ledger-Based Securities: Switzerland Opens a New Chapter for Tokenized Trade

Switzerland has taken an important step in the digitalization of global trade. As of 1 July 2026, Swiss law expressly recognizes that a bill of lading may be issued as an electronic document of title in the form of a ledger-based security. This follows the Federal Council’s recent amendment to the Maritime Shipping Ordinance, introduced as part of Switzerland’s broader maritime strategy. The Federal Council described the reform as a measure to provide legal clarity and promote the digitalization of maritime trade and transport processes.

This development is more than an update to Swiss maritime law. It creates a clearer legal basis for one of the most interesting potential use cases in tokenization: the digital representation, transfer and collateralization of rights linked to goods in transit.

1. Why the bill of lading matters

A bill of lading is not simply a shipping document. In international trade, it performs three functions. It records receipt of the goods by the carrier. It evidences the contract of carriage. Most importantly, in many structures, it operates as a document of title, meaning that control of the document is closely connected to control over the right to claim delivery of the goods.

This is why bills of lading have historically been difficult to digitize. A simple PDF or electronic copy cannot replace the legal function of the paper document. The issue is not whether the information can be displayed electronically. The issue is whether the electronic record can reproduce the legal effect of possession, transfer, endorsement and pledge.

Many real-world asset tokenization models struggle because the digital token is not sufficiently connected to the underlying asset or right. In the context of international trade, a legally effective electronic bill of lading can become the missing link between physical goods and digital instruments.

2. What Swiss law now enables

Switzerland had already created the legal foundation for ledger-based securities through the DLT Act. Article 973d of the Swiss Code of Obligations defines a ledger-based security as a right that is registered in a securities ledger and may be exercised and transferred only through that ledger. The ledger must give the creditor power of disposal, protect the integrity of the record, make the relevant rights and ledger rules transparent, and allow the creditor to verify the relevant entries.

Article 1153a CO then provides the specific bridge to trade documents: parties may issue documents of title to goods in the form of ledger-based securities. The provision also clarifies that the issuer’s physical signature is not required if the instrument can be clearly attributed to the issuer in another way, and that the content of the instrument must be recorded in the ledger or associated data.

The remaining uncertainty concerned bills of lading specifically. Swiss law recognized documents of title to goods in ledger-based form, but questions remained around the interaction between the Code of Obligations, Swiss maritime legislation and older maritime conventions drafted with paper documents in mind.

The new Article 15a of the Maritime Shipping Ordinance addresses this uncertainty. According to the recent legal update, it expressly clarifies that bills of lading may be issued as ledger-based securities under Article 1153a CO. The result is that, under Swiss law, a bill of lading may now be structured as a legally native electronic instrument, provided that the ledger satisfies the statutory requirements applicable to ledger-based securities.

The practical consequence is significant. Control over the ledger entry can replace possession of the paper document. Transfer of the ledger-based security can replace physical endorsement and delivery. A pledge or security interest can be structured through the ledger rather than through possession of a paper bill. This is the point at which an electronic bill of lading becomes relevant not only for logistics, but also for finance.

3. Why this matters for tokenized trade finance

The trade finance industry relies heavily on documents. Banks, traders, insurers and logistics providers need to know who controls the goods, whether the goods can be released, and whether the relevant rights have been transferred or pledged.

A legally effective ledger-based bill of lading can improve this process in three ways.

First, it can reduce uncertainty around control. If only one authorized person can dispose of the electronic bill of lading at any given time, the ledger can provide a clear answer to a question that is central to trade finance: who controls the document of title?

Second, it can improve the quality of collateral. A bank financing goods in transit may be more comfortable if the relevant bill of lading can be transferred, pledged or locked through a legally recognized ledger. This does not eliminate credit, fraud or cargo risk, but it can strengthen the legal and operational connection between the financing and the underlying trade document.

Third, it can support tokenized financial instruments. Once the bill of lading itself can exist in legally reliable digital form, it becomes easier to structure digital instruments linked to the trade transaction. These may include tokenized receivables, secured trade-finance notes, participations in financed shipments or other institutional instruments connected to goods in transit.

The key point is that the bill of lading should not be viewed only as a document to be digitized. It can become an infrastructure layer for tokenized trade.

4. The opportunity is real, but implementation remains decisive

The Swiss update does not mean that every electronic bill of lading automatically becomes legally equivalent to a paper bill of lading.

The requirements remain strict. The relevant system must ensure integrity, transparency, traceability and exclusive power of disposal. Pure electronic copies, PDFs or platform records that do not meet the requirements for ledger-based securities will not be sufficient. The legal effect depends on the architecture of the ledger, the registration agreement, the rights recorded, and the way control is exercised.

There are also practical issues that market participants will need to address. These include interoperability between platforms, treatment of technical failures, loss of access credentials, enforcement and insolvency scenarios, bank acceptance, P&I treatment, and recognition in cross-border transactions. The recent legal update correctly notes that the remaining challenges are now less about whether Swiss law permits electronic bills of lading, and more about infrastructure, implementation and market adoption.

Conclusion

The electronic bill of lading has long been discussed as a digitalization objective for shipping and trade. Switzerland’s latest legal clarification gives the topic a broader significance.

A bill of lading issued as a ledger-based security is not merely a paper document in electronic form. If properly structured, it is a legally recognized digital instrument through which rights to goods in transit may be controlled, transferred and potentially pledged.

This creates a foundation for the next generation of tokenized trade assets. The opportunity is to build legally reliable digital infrastructure for one of the oldest and most important instruments in international commerce.

STORM Partners will continue to monitor this development and support market participants interested in exploring ledger-based bills of lading, tokenized trade-finance instruments, and the broader digital-asset infrastructure required to bring these structures to market.