The UK government treasury has recently published a consultation document for its Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS).
This move is part of a broad strategy to foster innovation within the country’s burgeoning FinTech landscape.
The rationale for the introduction of the DSS is to encourage a more flexible legislative environment for digital securities. These digital assets have the potential to be transformative for financial markets, in terms of increasing efficiencies and fostering radical market changes. The DSS is slated to run for an initial period of five years.
In essence, HM Treasury serves as the UK’s economic and finance ministry, responsible for formulating and implementing financial and economic policies. Its functions range from managing public finances to supporting sustainable economic growth.
The new product, the Digital Securities Sandbox, is a testing ground for digital securities, including native and tokenised representations of existing securities. While cryptocurrencies will not be included, asset classes such as debt, equity, and money market instruments will be accommodated.
HM Treasury plans to learn from issues experienced by the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime, by implementing more flexible volume limits for the DSS. These limits, yet to be disclosed, will be based on factors such as the size and activities of an organisation and its sandbox performance. Additionally, the DSS will allow settlement with tokenised commercial bank money and offer potential linkages with central bank omnibus accounts.
A notable feature of the UK’s DSS is its provision for the adaptation of laws through a statutory instrument, enabling swift legal adjustments without requiring the conventional legislative process. This power can be wielded multiple times during the sandbox’s operation, allowing the introduction of new legislation before the sandbox’s end and potentially extending its duration.
The DSS will welcome participation from regulated entities and new entrants alike, although participants must be UK-based. HM Treasury does not anticipate significant regulatory changes for exchanges or multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) which will still need conventional licences. However, new entrants will be encouraged in the central securities depository (CSD) space, as this is where legal flexibility is most needed.
“Today marks a crucial step towards a more flexible and innovative financial market in the UK,” a representative from HM Treasury commented, “Our Digital Securities Sandbox will play a vital role in facilitating innovation, efficiency and growth in the sector.”
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