Singapore, Japan, UK, Swiss Regulators Plan Asset Tokenization Pilots

Regulators in Singapore, Japan, the U.K. and Switzerland are planning asset tokenization tests for fixed income, foreign exchange and asset management products, according to a Monday announcement.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has set up Project Guardian, a policymaker group that includes Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to advance cross-border collaboration in asset tokenization.

Tokenization, which digitizes real-world assets using the blockchain, is all the buzz among banking giants and institutions worldwide with major economies testing bond issuance and fund tokenization to potentially improve the efficiency of global financial markets.

Project Guardian is focused on discussing the legal and accounting treatment of digital assets, identifying potential risks and gaps in policy, as well as developing common standards for digital asset market design and best practices across jurisdictions.

The project will also look to facilitate industry pilots for digital assets through regulatory sandboxes, according to MAS’ announcement.

“MAS’ partnership with FSA, FCA and FINMA shows a strong desire among policymakers to deepen our understanding of the opportunities and risks arising from digital asset innovation,” Leong Sing Chiong, an MAS deputy managing director said in a statement.