In a groundbreaking move set to redefine the financial landscape, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) made a resounding declaration on November 15, 2023. MAS unveiled five additional industry pilots under Project Guardian. Blockchain application development stands as the foundation of this initiative’s success. 17 financial institutions within Project Guardian have launched five new industry pilots to explore innovative asset tokenization use cases. In the effort to strengthen the fundamental skills necessary for the exponential growth of tokenized markets, they signify a significant advancement.

Key Focus Areas of Financial Institutions

Different parts of the capital markets value chain may change as a result of the five asset tokenization trials. They encompass listing, distribution, trading, settlement, and asset servicing. Out of the 17 financial institutions that are members of Project Guardian, the following financial institutions are working on:

• Citi, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Fidelity International are actively testing institutional-grade mechanisms. These mechanisms are designed to price and execute bilateral digital asset trades efficiently. Their investigation of real-time post-trade reporting and analytics for transactions involving digital assets is another area of interest.
• Franklin Templeton is delving into the issuance of a tokenized money market fund utilizing a Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure. This creative method keeps transparent records of fund shares by using digital asset networks.
• BNY Mellon and OCBC are testing a cross-border FX payment solution. This solution aims to facilitate secure and interoperable payments across diverse networks.
• Ant International is piloting a treasury management solution to strengthen global liquidity management funding. This creative solution enables immediate multi-currency clearing and settlement by using their global treasury hub, which is located in Singapore. Their global treasury hub is situated in Singapore and it can accommodate transactions across a spectrum of over 40 currencies.
• Collaboratively, J.P. Morgan and Apollo are utilizing digital assets to streamline investment and management processes for discretionary portfolios and alternative assets. They specialise in large-scale customization and automatic portfolio rebalancing. They want to significantly cut down on the amount of time spent on manual asset service procedures.

Suggested Read | DeFi Asset Tokenization | A Beginner’s Guide

Conclusion

Apart from the five ongoing pilots, MAS unveiled Global Layer One, a project aimed at investigating the creation of an open digital infrastructure tailored for hosting tokenized financial assets and applications. Additionally, in collaboration with the financial sector, the central bank is spearheading the development of an Interlinked Network Model. This model is set to function as a unified framework facilitating the exchange of digital assets among financial institutions operating across independent networks.

Moreover, MAS revealed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was one of the policymakers supporting Project Guardian’s endeavours.

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