The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled a detailed roadmap aimed at encouraging asset managers to adopt blockchain and tokenization in their operations. By clarifying how existing rules can support tokenized funds and proposing new frameworks for trading and settlement, the FCA seeks to foster innovation, cost efficiency, and broader investor access in asset management. This initiative marks a significant step toward bringing traditional financial infrastructure into the digital asset age.
The FCA’s roadmap includes several key components designed to bridge traditional fund structures and blockchain‑based alternatives. First, it proposes guidance for operating tokenized fund registers under the current regulatory environment, using what it calls the “UK Blueprint model.” This model would allow managers to maintain tokenized and traditional fund units concurrently. It also envisages a streamlined dealing framework to support both conventional and tokenized fund trading.
Further, the roadmap lays out plans to explore blockchain-based settlement mechanisms. By digitizing fund operations, asset managers could reduce reconciliation costs and simplify data sharing across participants. The FCA notes that tokenized products have the potential to increase competition in asset management, lower costs, and open up access to more investors, especially in private markets and infrastructure.
A structured push toward fund tokenization
However, the FCA also acknowledges that as tokenization scales, regulatory adjustments will likely be necessary. It intends to review how its rules may evolve to accommodate new structures and technologies. The regulator expressed ambition for the UK to become a global leader in this space, offering clarity and confidence for firms to experiment and innovate.
In recent months, the UK has taken additional steps favoring crypto innovation, such as lifting a prior ban on crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) for retail investors and proposing adjustments to stablecoin restrictions for corporate entities. These moves complement the tokenization roadmap by signaling a more proactive regulatory stance toward integrating digital asset infrastructure within traditional markets.
