The UK has moved to accelerate the adoption of tokenisation across wholesale financial markets, with Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard CBE publishing his inaugural report to the Chancellor and convening 54 firms to deliver a coordinated programme of work.
Released on 13 July, the report outlines how the UK can shift from pilots to scalable live markets, setting out priority actions across issuance, collateral, funds, payments, legal certainty, interoperability and financial‑crime compliance. The programme will be supported by the City of London Corporation and industry bodies including TheCityUK, the Investment Association, UK Finance and Innovate Finance.
Woolard said the UK is “uniquely placed to become the global leader in wholesale market tokenisation”, arguing that early action is needed to secure competitiveness as other jurisdictions move quickly. Estimates put the global tokenised real‑world assets market at $88trn by 2035, with modelling suggesting tokenisation could add up to £33bn to UK annual economic output and £14bn in tax revenues.
The report highlights the UK’s progress to date, including DIGIT – the UK’s digital gilt instrument – and a series of pilots across market infrastructure. But it warns that international competition requires “accelerated pace” to secure the UK’s role in shaping next‑generation market plumbing.
City of London Corporation Policy Chairman Chris Hayward said the UK has a “once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to lead a digital Big Bang in financial services”, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said tokenisation would make UK markets “more competitive” and attract investment.
Over the next 12 months, the cross‑industry taskforce will focus on delivering live end‑to‑end use cases, beginning with tokenised repo. Nine Action Groups will develop standards across the market value chain.
Industry leaders welcomed the move. Lloyds Banking Group’s Peter Left said tokenisation would “improve efficiency, enhance resilience and support innovation”, while Fnality CEO Michelle Neal said collaboration across industry, government and regulators is essential to “turn tokenised wholesale markets from concept into execution”.
Mobius CEO James Finch said shared standards and trusted infrastructure are critical for meaningful scale.
The firms supporting the programme span major banks, asset managers, market‑infrastructure providers, digital‑asset firms and technology companies, including BlackRock, Citi, DTCC, Euroclear, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, LSEG, Morgan Stanley, State Street and UBS.
Woolard, appointed in May 2026, is an EY partner and former interim CEO of the FCA. The report is available on the HM Treasury and City of London Corporation websites.
The full report is here.
Read our interview with Woolard at Sibos Frankfurt 2025.
