UK FCA Prepares Tokenised Gold Rules as London Defends 70% Share of Bullion Trading
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Aug 10
UK FCA Prepares Tokenised Gold Rules as London Defends 70% Share of Bullion Trading
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 10
Summary
The Financial Conduct Authority is drafting a framework for tokenised gold and is expected to outline regulatory standards in the next few months after talks with banks and other market participants.
Those discussions focus on whether tokenised gold can be used as collateral in wholesale markets and how the FCA could supervise it, even though it does not regulate physical gold trading.
London handles about 70% of global gold trading volumes, but officials and industry figures see rising pressure from Shanghai and Hong Kong as China pushes to build a rival bullion hub.
The move fits a broader UK drive to digitise wholesale finance; Treasury digital markets champion Chris Woolard said faster reform could deliver a £33bn economic boost.
Tokenised gold already has some market traction: HSBC said its Hong Kong retail product has generated more than $2.2bn of trading across over 276,000 transactions.