FCA and Bank of England Target Permanent Tokenised Markets on Back of 123 Industry Responses

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England are set to publish a comprehensive tokenization roadmap later this year following a joint call for input that garnered 123 industry responses. While stakeholders expressed broad support for the current regulatory approach, they emphasized the urgent need to transition from pilot programs to permanent market infrastructure. Key focus areas for the upcoming roadmap include digital securities issuance, collateral management, and access to central bank money settlement. Industry participants identified post-trade activities as the primary opportunity for tokenization, citing benefits such as 24-hour trading, atomic settlement, and improved collateral mobility. The regulators are specifically evaluating the path from the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) to long-term authorization, with HSBC already participating in the sandbox for settlement functions. Furthermore, the FCA reaffirmed its commitment to a technology-neutral regulatory framework, ensuring that tokenized assets receive treatment equivalent to their traditional counterparts. This development marks a significant step toward integrating blockchain-based assets into the UK's formal financial system.