The European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission and European Securities and Markets Authority are seeking nominations for an industry-led group to draft common standards for holding and settling tokenized securities.
Eligible applicants for the European Tokenisation Standards Group include EU industry associations, global institutions, private firms and fintech companies. Applications must be submitted by November 27, with work scheduled to begin in January 2027, according to a release published Monday.
Observer role and mandate
The three EU institutions will participate in the group as observers. The group’s mandate is to develop technical and market standards to help companies hold and settle tokenized securities across different distributed ledger technology platforms and ensure those platforms can work with existing financial systems.
The group aims to produce an initial set of standards by early 2028, according to its mandate. The institutions warned that fragmentation could limit the benefits of tokenization and said the group may recommend ways for EU authorities to encourage firms to adopt its standards.
Supporting Eurosystem initiatives
The standards will support Appia, the Eurosystem’s initiative to develop a blueprint for Europe’s tokenized financial markets. This effort follows the September launch of Pontes, a system that allows financial institutions to settle wholesale transactions in tokenized assets in central bank money.
