News
UK Treasury: Digital Assets Have Potential for 'Complete Transformation' of Markets
TL;DR
UK Treasury's Lucy Rigby states that digital assets could completely transform financial markets by improving efficiencies and speeding up capital flows. She emphasizes the need for regulatory alignment between the UK and US.
Key points
- Digital assets can transform UK financial markets
- Improvements include quicker capital flows
- Need for regulatory alignment with the US
In brief
- Digital assets will have a transformative impact on U.K. financial markets, said Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby.
- She highlighted their improvements to efficiencies including quicker capital flows.
- Rigby pointed to the need to “minimize frictions” between the U.K. and U.S. regulatory regimes for digital assets.
Digital assets have the potential to effect sweeping changes on U.K. financial markets, according to Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
Speaking at the Financial Times Digital Assets Summit, Rigby said that digital assets offer benefits including “efficiencies generally, but also just everything happening much more speedily.” She added that it’s important to consider “what that actually means for business,” including quicker capital flows and “capital being freed up for other things.”
More broadly, Rigby argued, digital assets have “the potential for complete transformation of our markets, and that goes beyond efficiencies,” noting that the Treasury has to “work very closely with industry, with regulators, and give some proper thought to exactly how digital assets do transform our financial markets.”
Her comments come as the King’s Speech introduces an Enhancing Financial Services Bill, which Rigby noted “contains major reforms that are going to drive growth in our financial services sector.” They include provisions that seek to “modernise how the sector is regulated,” highlighting the need to ensure that the “administrative burden on firms is proportionate.”
Within the digital assets sector, Rigby pointed to the FCA and Bank of England’s upcoming stablecoin legislation, with the portal allowing for authorizations set to open “later this year.” She also highlighted the stablecoin regulatory sandbox launched by the FCA earlier this year, with four firms who are “keen to get a GBP stablecoin out there,” as well as the imminent publication of a consultation inviting the payments sector to provide feedback on a “single, coherent framework for both traditional and tokenised payments” including stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
“This is really about streamlining regulation in the payment space,” she said, encompassing both stablecoins and AI agents.
Q&A
What did Lucy Rigby say about digital assets at the Financial Times Digital Assets Summit?
Lucy Rigby stated that digital assets could lead to a complete transformation of UK financial markets, enhancing efficiencies and enabling quicker capital flows.
How can digital assets improve capital flows in the UK?
Digital assets can facilitate quicker capital flows, allowing capital to be freed up for other business needs and improving overall market efficiency.
What is the UK Treasury's stance on regulatory alignment with the US for digital assets?
The UK Treasury emphasizes the importance of minimizing frictions between UK and US regulatory regimes for digital assets to fully realize their potential benefits.
