Europe opens an industry group to set tokenisation interoperability standards
The ECB, Commission and ESMA have opened nominations for an industry-led group that aims to publish initial tokenisation standards by early 2028.
In brief
- The European Tokenisation Standards Group will target interoperability between DLT networks and between tokenised and legacy market infrastructure.
- Industry members will chair the work, while the ECB, European Commission and ESMA serve as permanent observers.
- Nominations close on 27 November 2026, and the mandate targets initial standards relevant to the Appia roadmap by early 2028.
A standards group moves from policy idea to recruitment
The European Central Bank, European Commission and European Securities and Markets Authority have opened nominations for the European Tokenisation Standards Group. The new body is intended to develop common market standards for an interconnected tokenised financial ecosystem. Its mandate covers settlement and holding of distributed-ledger financial instruments across DLT infrastructures and between DLT and legacy systems. Applications are open to associations, financial institutions, fintech companies, technical providers and other organisations working on tokenisation or DLT-based financial services. The nomination deadline is 27 November. Selection will be made jointly by the three public bodies, but members from industry will appoint the chair and co-chair.
Interoperability is the central problem
Europe's tokenisation projects risk reproducing the same fragmentation that already divides conventional trading, clearing and settlement. The mandate asks the group first to define what end-to-end interoperability means, catalogue existing European and global initiatives, identify gaps against established financial-market standards and decide which technical or business layers need common rules. It can then develop standards, monitor adoption and recommend measures that could encourage compliance. This is broader than choosing a single blockchain format. The work can touch links between infrastructures, settlement processes, asset holding and the hand-off between tokenised platforms and existing market systems.
Industry leads, but public authorities keep a seat
The design tries to keep technical decisions market-driven while connecting them to European policy. The ECB, Commission and ESMA will be permanent observers, and an experienced staff member from one of those institutions will act as secretary. Members are expected to have standards expertise, commit organisational resources and be able to put agreed actions into practice. The group will aim for consensus rather than simple majority votes, and major deliverables are meant to be discussed in meetings. Its progress reports should normally be public, with at least an annual public summary. That governance may improve coordination, although consensus across competing networks and business models could also slow decisions.
The first output is planned for 2028
The mandate says initial standards relevant to the Eurosystem's Appia roadmap should be delivered by early 2028. It also anticipates proposed changes to the EU's DLT Pilot Regime, which would require an industry group to develop settlement standards for DLT financial instruments. The new group may begin that work before legislation is final, but the mandate carefully says this depends on the co-legislators adopting the proposal. For banks, market infrastructures and technology providers, the immediate decision is whether to seek membership and commit technical staff. The longer-term test is whether agreed standards are implemented broadly enough to connect live markets rather than remaining advisory documents.
Sources and verification
Based on an official announcement
Verified the announcement, deadline and public-authority roles on ESMA’s release, then checked the linked mandate and nomination paper for tasks, governance, legislative dependencies and the early-2028 target. The standards do not yet exist, and adoption of related DLT Pilot Regime amendments remains uncertain.
- EU seeks nominations for stakeholder group on tokenisation standards in finance European Securities and Markets Authority · Primary document · 9 Nov 2026
- Mandate of the European Tokenisation Standards Group European Securities and Markets Authority · Primary document · 9 Nov 2026
- Background and Call for nominations — European Tokenisation Standards Group European Securities and Markets Authority · Primary document · 9 Nov 2026
Prepared with AI assistance from the linked sources. This is not a claim of independent field reporting or human review. How we publish · Report a correction
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