UK Regulators Unveil Blueprint for Asset Tokenization in Wholesale Markets

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England on Monday (May 18) issued a joint framework to accelerate tokenization within the U.K.’s wholesale financial markets. The initiative seeks to provide the regulatory and technical certainty institutional firms require to transition digital asset technology from experimental pilots into mainstream production.

Tokenization creates digital representations of real-world assets, such as shares or bonds, on a distributed ledger. Regulators view the technology as a primary driver for efficiency, potentially streamlining security issuance and asset management while lowering costs and enhancing market resilience. Simon Walls, the FCA’s executive director of markets, stated that the partnership aims to ensure a “common approach” as tokenization reshapes how assets are issued, traded and settled.

The regulators have opened a call for input, active until July 3, to identify where existing rules may support or constrain the technology. Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England, noted the objective is for the public and private sectors to build on “strong foundations” to support sustainable growth.

To support this initiative, the Bank of England launched a consultation to move the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service toward 24/7 operation. This shift is intended to support new payment and settlement models as tokenization evolves. Simultaneously, the Prudential Regulation Authority issued guidance to bank executives regarding the prudential treatment of tokenized exposures and stablecoins.

The FCA also pledged to review its client asset rules to ensure they remain effective as the sector changes. Other ongoing efforts include a Digital Securities Sandbox involving 16 firms and a planned synchronization service for central bank settlement scheduled for 2028.

This move from FCA coincides with a broader global shift by financial infrastructure providers and major lenders to integrate tokenization into core operations. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which custodies more than $114 trillion in assets, plans to launch a tokenization service for real-world assets this October following limited production trades in July.

Simultaneously, global banks are deploying tokenized deposits to improve liquidity and real-time cash management. HSBC recently expanded its tokenized deposit platform to the United States, joining institutions such as Citi and BNY in efforts to eliminate traditional settlement delays and batch processing.