FCA and Bank of England Open Tokenisation Roadmap Discussion for UK Wholesale Markets

The Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England have set out a shared vision for tokenisation in UK wholesale markets and asked the industry for feedback on how existing rules and market infrastructure support or constrain that shift. The May 18 announcement is not a retail-crypto story. It is about how regulated financial markets could handle digital representations of assets such as shares, bonds and cash in a more standardized way.

The regulators said firms have asked for more certainty around prudential treatment, tokenised collateral and settlement instruments. In response, they opened a discussion on the principles that should guide future regulation and infrastructure. The Bank also linked the work to possible near-24/7 RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours, while the FCA said it may revisit how client-asset rules apply as tokenisation develops.

That matters because tokenisation only becomes useful to active market participants if issuance, trading, collateral and settlement can work inside a trusted rulebook. The regulators are also using the Digital Securities Sandbox to test live issuance and settlement with firms, which suggests this is moving beyond theory.

Why it matters

For traders, tokenisation could eventually affect settlement speed, collateral mobility, market access and the design of new wholesale products. None of that changes overnight, but the policy direction is getting clearer.

What to watch next

Feedback closes on 3 July 2026. Watch for the summer feedback statement and for any concrete rule changes on settlement hours, client assets and digital wholesale market infrastructure.