Alan Lim

This roundtable considers the work that the BIS Innovation Hub Eurosystem Centre, Singapore Centre, together with the central banks of France, Italy, Malaysia, and Singapore are pursuing to determine how FX will look like in a world of digital money.

The discussion will support this work, with the objective to:

- Promote understanding and share insights on the integration of digital currencies in the FX market.
- Identify challenges and explore opportunities presented by the intersection of FX, DeFi, and wholesale CBDCs.
- Encourage collaboration among stakeholders to shape a forward-looking FX framework that accommodates digital innovations.

This roundtable is closely tied to the work on Project Rialto, which aims to improving instant cross-border payments using wholesale CBDC settlement, details of which are available in the agenda brief. Operating under the theme of Decoding Digital Assets and Payments, this roundtable will explore the inefficiencies in today's foreign exchange markets, and the various initiatives that are being pursued to address these.

Attendees who wish to familiarise themselves with the history of the topic may refer to the reference materials here.

This roundtable reflects Elevandi’s commitment to developing the infrastructure to support the adoption of new technologies.

Following initial experiments with public blockchains in the unregulated space, the focus is now on potential applications in the regulated sector. The opportunities that could arise for traditional financial institutions by using public blockchain systems with global reach and 24/7 availability shall be discussed. Keywords are efficiency, trust, cost reduction and usability. With new opportunities come new risks. The implementation of a public blockchain as a transfer infrastructure poses various risks that need to be adequately addressed, such as operational, reputational and legal risks.

Operating under the theme of Decoding Digital Assets and Payments, the roundtable will discuss the extent to which these risks can be mitigated or whether such risks hinder the implementation of use cases. Switzerland's DLT legislation already outlines some concepts that can be deepened and compared with other approaches. The aim of the roundtable is to discuss potential use cases for blockchain as a transfer infrastructure in the regulated sector.

Hosted by FINMA, the roundtable is primarily aimed at supervisory authorities and representatives of the financial industry or academia who are interested in blockchain and its implementation in the regulated area.

The following questions will be discussed:
- What potential use cases can benefit from the implementation of a public blockchain as transfer infrastructure in the regulated sector?
- What are the risks and opportunities? What risk mitigation measures need to be applied?

This is one of two discussions surrounding permissionless/public blockchains in the financial services at the Insights Forum. Find out more at the "Permissionless blockchain in financial services" session, where industry players table their perspectives.

Attendees who wish to familiarise themselves with the topic may refer to the reference materials below.
- Building towards a vision of open and interoperable networks

This roundtable reflects Elevandi’s commitment to advancing adoption of frontier technologies.

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, the concept of tokenisation is helping to reshape traditional financial instruments issued by sovereign and corporate entities. The transformative potential is exemplified by several digital bonds issuances as part of Project Helvetia Phase III. Also, Project Promissa aims to tokenise promissory notes that are instrumental in raising funds for the World Bank and other International Financial Institutions.

The roundtable will bring together participants from the public and private sectors, the legal and regulatory community, and financial market infrastructures. It will explore the following aspects:
- The transformative impact of tokenising financial instruments, such as liquidity, accessibility, transparency, and efficiency.
- The multifaceted challenges of tokenisation, ranging from technical aspects such as security, privacy and interoperability, to regulation and compliance and coordination between diverse actors in the financial markets.

The objectives of this roundtable operating under the theme of Decoding Digital Assets and Payments are to i) understand the transformative impact of tokenisation and explore challenges and solutions, ii) promote collaboration and coordination between different stakeholders and iii) map the way forward by identifying opportunities and risks.

Attendees who wish to familiarise themselves with the topic may refer to the reference materials below.
- Project Helvetia Phase III
- Project Promissa

In this session, discover the imperative of constructing an open and interoperable foundation for financial networks, fostering collaboration, innovation, and seamless connectivity across the global financial ecosystem.

In this session, discover the imperative of constructing an open and interoperable foundation for financial networks, fostering collaboration, innovation, and seamless connectivity across the global financial ecosystem.

This roundtable continues Elevandi’s series on the progress of Project Guardian, a concerted effort between policymakers and the financial industry to foster responsible innovation in asset tokenisation while enhancing liquidity and efficiency of financial markets.

Forms of financial asset tokenisation are taking shape in capital markets, through platforms that facilitate the issuance of these tokens to those supporting secondary trading of tokenised securities. With tokenisation, these platforms are broadening investor access to private equity and private credit by making it more cost-efficient to fractionalise and offer such products. Furthermore, by simplifying the distribution and trading of such products digitally, platforms may improve the liquidity of these traditionally illiquid products.

In 2023, participating financial institutions in Project Guardian demonstrated the potential of asset tokenisation through different pilots across use cases, unlocking the potential of traditional finance (TradFi) through decentralised finance (DeFi). A summary outlining actionable insights was produced that highlighted the importance of international collaboration, responsible innovation, and a shift towards outcome-oriented approaches by taking tokenisation from concepts to commercialisation. Emphasising the need to prioritise commercial value over just technological allure, these discussions set the tone for the pivotal role of Project Guardian in shaping the financial landscape. Read the report here.

Looking ahead to 2024, the next phase of Project Guardian aims to accelerate institutional adoption and scalability for asset tokenisation, by unpacking how the industry can work together to fuel this acceleration. This roundtable is one of two roundtables held at the Point Zero Forum under the theme of Decoding Digital Assets and Payments that will discuss the latest developments and findings based on the milestones achieved under Project Guardian till date. This roundtable will focus on asset and wealth management.

Attendees who wish to familiarise themselves with the topic may refer to the linked reports.
- Guardian roundtable: Concepts to commercialisation
- Playback of Project Guardian – Unlocking TradFi with DeFi

This roundtable represents the latest milestone in the ongoing evolution of Project Guardian, a concerted effort to foster responsible innovation in digital assets while safeguarding financial stability and integrity.

In 2023, Project Guardian had unlocked the potential of traditional finance (TradFi) through decentralised finance (DeFi) with a summary outlining actionable insights. This includes the importance of international collaboration, responsible innovation, and a shift towards outcome-oriented approaches by taking tokenisation from concepts to commercialisation. Emphasising the need to prioritise commercial value over just technological allure, these discussions have set the tone for the pivotal role of Project Guardian in shaping the financial landscape. Read the report here.

Looking ahead to 2024, the next phase of Project Guardian aims to accelerate institutional adoption and scalability for asset tokenisation, by unpacking how the industry can work together to fuel this acceleration. The roundtables will focus on the following two asset classes: Foreign exchange and Asset and wealth management (Funds).