Long term competitiveness

Progress update: Implementing the recommendations of our digitalisation of UK capital markets report’

17 December 2025

5 minutes

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Earlier this year, we partnered with Hogan Lovells to publish a landmark report setting out 20 recommendations to accelerate the digitalisation of the UK’s capital markets. During the course of the year, we have worked with industry, government and regulators to drive progress on these actions.

Our new progress update highlights what has been delivered to date and sets out 10 urgent priorities required to maintain momentum:

Industry-led projects

1. The government appointed Digital Markets Champion should convene an industry working group to help inform a roadmap of next steps to fast track the digitalisation of capital markets.
2. The use of industry-wide standards should be promoted across primary and secondary markets (e.g. ICMA Bond Taxonomy and the Common Domain Model).

Making a success of the digital FMI sandboxes

3. HMT to consider recognising international payments and settlement systems and amending the DSS regulations to allow international participants into the sandbox.

Enabling on-chain payments / the digital payments leg

4. To ensure a viable digital payments leg solution – an essential component of a successful digital capital market, HMT and the regulators should maintain momentum by finalising their policies and making the necessary Statutory Instruments and rules on stablecoins and tokenised deposits.
5. The Digital Markets Champion should work with industry to determine the appropriate arrangements to enable interoperability of legal and operational ecosystems for digital financial market infrastructure.

Digital bonds

6. The Digital Markets Champion should help to ensure that HMT develops the digital gilt to enable collateral mobility and on-chain settlement and help build longer-term confidence in digitalised capital markets.
7. The Digital Markets Champion should join up the work of the sector and the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce to help build pathways to issuance of digital bonds.
8. The Digital Markets Champion should look for opportunities for UK authorities and industry to work with international bodies to establish interoperable pathways to digital bond issuance, custody and transfer.
9. HMT should provide clarity on the treatment of digital assets for example in the Financial Collateral Arrangement Regulations, as proposed by the Law Commission.
10. The Regulators could also provide guidance that the act of tokenisation does not of itself change the eligibility criteria for use as collateral under existing regulatory frameworks.

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