Government has today (16 June) set out in further detail what Chris Woolard will focus on and deliver.
The published Terms of Reference, , sets out how he will lead industry in driving the adoption of digital technologies across UK markets, increasing competitiveness, driving down cost and enhancing resilience.
On 21 April, the government appointed Chris Woolard CBE as the Wholesale Digital Markets Champion to provide market leadership and support industry progress on the development of a tokenised wholesale financial markets ecosystem, as well as to support the government’s work to deliver a more efficient and competitive financial sector.
Following a meeting between the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Chris to discuss the forward plan for this work, the Government is today publishing the Terms of Reference for this role, setting out how the Champion will work in partnership with industry and government to accelerate the digitalisation of UK wholesale financial markets.
Under the Terms of Reference, the Champion will provide leadership to co-ordinate the sector’s wider implementation of digital as outlined in the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, which was published on 15 July 2025 as part of the Leeds Reforms. The strategy covers the immediate steps to optimise UK markets by replacing outdated processes, as well as medium to longer term steps to transform UK markets by realising the benefits of emerging technologies, particularly the adoption of tokenisation through use of distributed ledger technology (DLT).
The Champion will:
- Establish a cross-industry taskforce, with representatives from across the market ecosystem, to provide input and support.
- Deliver a report to the Chancellor, developed with the sector, covering how UK wholesale markets can best adopt tokenisation and other related technologies, as well as how the sector and government can ensure DLT interoperability.
- Promote the delivery of the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy across the sector.
- Co-ordinate with the Chairs of the other workstreams (on AST and DEMAT) as they implement their programmes to deliver T+1 and remove paper shares.
The Terms of Reference sets out a clear timetable for delivery. The Champion will provide an initial forward look, including plans to establish the industry taskforce, by July 2026. A full report on DLT adoption and interoperability will be submitted to the Chancellor by July 2027. The appointment will run for 18 months, with ongoing work to support implementation of the strategy across the sector. The role is unpaid.
