.jpg)
A CryptoUK spokesperson said: “We’re pleased to see that Labour have committed to helping turn the UK into a global hub for digital tokenisation as part of the party’s policies for the financial services sector. Blockchain technology is essential to the tokenisation of financial assets and, as Labour and others within the financial services industry have noted, the adoption of tokenisation could boost the economy by providing more asset classes, whilst strengthening risk management practices. Clarifying the law and regulations around these innovations will be key to promoting more jobs and growth within the British economy. We also welcome Labour’s sentiments around central bank digital currencies, following on from the consultation replies from the Bank of England and HM Treasury and recognising that any threats to privacy and financial inclusion must be addressed.”
Background:
Labour’s plan for financial services:
Financing-Growth.pdf (labour.org.uk)
The key sections of Labour’s policies can be found below:
Make the UK a global hub for securities tokenisation
Tokenisation, which UK Finance defines as “the digital representation of financial assets using distributed ledger technology,"49 presents a significant new opportunity for the UK. Citi Group estimates tokenised financial assets could be worth nearly $4 trillion globally by 2030.50 Embracing tokenisation could increase liquidity, provide access to new asset classes and fractionalised assets, and strengthen risk management (by reducing counterparty risks and other operational risks)
A future Labour government will therefore look to make the UK a global leader in tokenisation by advancing work to clarify the law around tokenisation, and working with regulators to establish a proportionate, outcomes-based regulatory regime to oversee the technology. Labour will advance the initial progress to introduce the financial market infrastructure regulatory sandboxes to work out the regulatory bottlenecks for tokenisation and will explore the possibility of a pilot issuance of tokenised gilts via the Debt Management Office to test the impact of the technology and create the demand for tokenised assets. A Labour government will also look to develop partnerships with other financial centres to establish interoperable standards and enable trade of tokenised assets across borders.
Advance on-going work to create a UK central bank digital currency Labour recognises the growing case for a state[1]backed digital pound to protect the integrity and sovereignty of the Bank of England, and the UK’s financial and monetary system. Labour fully supports the Bank of England’s work in this area, and wants to ensure that issues such as threats to privacy, financial inclusion and stability are effectively mitigated in the design of a central bank digital currency.
