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UK Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Publishes Tokenised Finance Roadmap, 13 July 2026

On 13 July 2026, HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion published the first report of a 54-institution taskforce calling for accelerated tokenisation of UK wholesale financial markets. Estimates by Barclays and PwC put gross annual benefits to the UK economy at GBP 33 billion, with GBP 14 billion in additional tax receipts. The taskforce's immediate priority is tokenised repo, followed by primary issuance, collateral, money market funds, and digital payment rails.

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HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard CBE published the first report of a 54-institution taskforce on 13 July 2026, titled Rewiring Finance: Tokenisation as a Catalyst for UK Growth. The report sets out a 12-month roadmap calling on government, regulators, and market participants to accelerate tokenisation of UK wholesale financial markets. Woolard was appointed by HM Treasury on 21 April 2026.

The report draws its regulatory context from the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which established powers to create a financial market infrastructure (FMI) sandbox for testing tokenised settlement, and from the Bank of England's regulatory authority over securities settlement systems. The 54 endorsing institutions include Barclays, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Citibank, the London Stock Exchange Group, Euroclear, DTCC, Circle, Ripple, and Coinbase.

The taskforce's immediate priority is tokenised repo, a secured short-term borrowing mechanism forming a large share of daily wholesale market activity. Further priorities include tokenised collateral management, primary issuance of debt and equity on distributed ledger infrastructure, tokenised money market funds, and programmable payment rails connecting digital securities to cash settlement. Asset managers, custodians, central securities depositories, investment banks, and infrastructure providers are the main groups expected to restructure operations around tokenised instruments.

The report carries no legally binding effect. Government action on the recommendations, including potential amendments to FCA rules or statutory instruments under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, has not been scheduled. The Bank of England's exploratory work on a wholesale central bank digital currency remains separate and ongoing; its intersection with the taskforce's payment rail priorities has not been formally resolved.

Licentium advises clients on digital asset regulatory developments in the UK and EU. Work we undertake includes tokenisation legal structuring, digital securities regulatory advisory, distributed ledger infrastructure compliance, and UK financial market regulatory analysis.

Source: HM Treasury, Wholesale Digital Markets Champion First Report, GOV.UK, 13 July 2026

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