Transatlantic Financial Leaders Support New Defense Bank
Institutional investors are showing intense enthusiasm for the defense sector. Five major financial institutions, including ING and JPMorgan Chase, announced on August 7th their support for the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, or DSRB. This new not-for-profit bank is designed to help NATO countries and their allies finance critical defense needs.
With the backing of these influential financiers, the DSRB will issue AAA-rated bonds, enabling countries to fund defense production and procurement efforts. This initiative will also help nations reach the 5 percent NATO defense spending pledge, which was agreed upon in June. Additionally, the bank aims to engage investors and support initiatives that strengthen defense modernization and supply chain resilience across NATO, the European Union, and allied countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
The DSRB was officially launched in March by Rob Murray, NATO’s former head of innovation. The mission of the multilateral bank, Murray stated, is to “harness capital markets in support of deterrence, readiness, and collective security, ensuring that the free world has the financial tools to defend itself in an era of systemic threat.”
In essence, the DSRB will assist countries in securing the funds required to achieve their ambitious defense goals. The bank has already received high-level endorsements. In July, a UK task force, co-chaired by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary John Healey, publicly supported the creation of the DSRB. In June, Members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution urging its establishment.
According to an official release, a detailed plan and draft charter for the DSRB have already been developed by the DSRB Development Group. This group consists of former multilateral bankers, lawyers, defense investment specialists, and senior defense policy leaders.
The five banks now supporting the DSRB represent a significant portion of the transatlantic financial system. These institutions are Commerzbank, a leading commercial German bank; ING Group, the renowned Dutch multinational finance and banking company; JP Morgan Chase, the prominent US-based investment banking and financial services firm; Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, a German public-sector regional bank; and RBC Capital Markets, the investment banking division of the Royal Bank of Canada.
The participation of these banks means that the DSRB can launch with both technical credibility and market trust, which are essential for operating at scale. All five institutional backers will contribute expert input on sovereign lending instruments, capital structuring, investor engagement, ratings advisory, risk and asset-liability management, and debt capital market access. Murray emphasized the importance of financial support in defense, stating, “For too long, we have underestimated the role of capital in defense. The banks stepping up today understand that deterrence demands financial support.”
The DSRB plans to announce additional banking partners, global investment firms, and sovereign stakeholders in the coming weeks. The bank’s formal kick-off, featuring a meeting of partners, is scheduled for early September.