Bank of England consults on tokenised collateral for CCPs until February

The Bank of England on 29 October 2026 opened consultation on a draft supervisory statement for central counterparties (CCPs) seeking to accept tokenised versions of eligible collateral. Responses are due by 12 February 2027. The proposal covers UK CCPs and recognised non-UK CCPs that the Bank considers, or expects may become, systemically important to UK financial stability.

The draft statement is not a separate regime and does not require CCPs to accept tokenised assets. It explains how the Bank would assess applications under existing collateral and supervisory approval processes. The Bank’s starting position is that the existing framework is not itself a barrier, provided tokenised collateral remains capable of being valued, transferred and realised when needed, including during stress.

What CCPs would need to demonstrate

The proposed expectations cover:

- liquidity, valuation and interoperability;
- settlement finality;
- credit and concentration risk;
- operational resilience; and
- custody and safeguarding.

A CCP would need to assess how the arrangement operates in practice and demonstrate that it can transfer and realise the collateral within required timeframes in normal and stressed conditions. This includes following a clearing member default, when the CCP may need quickly to access, transfer, segregate or liquidate collateral.

The Bank says the considerations are not binary tests. CCPs should consider the relevant risks, decide whether they can be managed and demonstrate how they reached that assessment. The governing principle is “same risk, same regulatory outcome”: different tokenised arrangements may meet the same outcome through different technologies, legal structures or operating models.

Tokenisation may nevertheless make an asset a new form of collateral for approval purposes. The draft UK CCP Rulebook would require notification, and in some cases the Bank’s permission, for new collateral types or forms where risks differ from those already approved. The Bank specifically identifies differences in delivery mechanism, credit risk or liquidity profile.

Operational assessments would need to cover dependencies on third parties and infrastructure. For example, where a tokenised government bond is linked to an underlying bond held at a central securities depository through a third-party bridge, the CCP should assess whether bridge failure could affect the collateral’s availability, integrity, transferability or realisation. It should also consider recovery or alternative arrangements.

The draft statement points to risks involving cryptographic keys, wallets, digital credentials, permissions and automated functions. A CCP should understand whether their loss or disruption could prevent control of collateral, or cause automated processes to continue or stop unintentionally. Custody assessments should address how ownership, control and access would be maintained in normal and stressed conditions.

Scope and timing

The consultation focuses primarily on tokenised versions of collateral already used by CCPs, with tokenised government bonds presented as a key example. Stablecoins, tokenised money market fund units and tokenised gold are discussed as possible future collateral types, not assets made eligible by this consultation. The Bank says stablecoins would require a change to the CCP Rulebook or permission to modify or waive the relevant rule, alongside other approvals.

The proposal follows the Bank and FCA’s May 2026 Call for Input on the safe adoption of tokenisation in UK wholesale financial markets. It also sits alongside the Bank’s proposed replacement of UK EMIR Titles III to V with a UK CCP Rulebook. The Bank expects to publish its policy response and rules in the fourth quarter of 2026, with those rules taking effect after HM Treasury repeals the relevant UK EMIR provisions and technical standards.

The Bank is seeking responses from CCPs, clearing members and clients, infrastructure and technology providers, and other stakeholders by 12 February 2027.