Policymaker's Keynote on the Future of Money

Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of Banque de France takes to the Regulation Stage at the Singapore FinTech Festival to discuss the role of central bank money in ensuring safe and efficient payments amid financial digitalisation. He covered the adaptation of monetary services, fostering cross-border collaboration, and advancing wholesale CBDC initiatives to address the challenges of tokenized assets and digital ledger technologies (DLT).

1. The role of central bank money in digital finance

Beau highlighted that central bank money is crucial for the safe financial transactions, especially in the wholesale space.

• Central bank money is vital for safe and liquid financial settlements.
• Modernisation is necessary to address tokenized assets and digital ledger technologies (DLT).

2. Banque de France's experimental programmes on wholesale CBDCs

• Banque de France has working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the BIS Innovation Hub on efforts to develop wholesale CBDC solutions for digital settlements. Projects include:
  • Project Mariana: Cross-border CBDC exchange.
  • Project Rialto: Enhancing the FX layer of instant cross-border payments.
  • Project Mandala: On-chain compliance checks for cross-border transactions
    
    
• Beyond the above, Banque de France is also working with MAS on the latter's Project Guardian
  • The Les Gardiennes Project seeks to implement a cross-border and cross-currency repo on-chain solution for tokenized financial assets issued in public permission blockchain infrastructure. 
    
    

3. Interoperability and unified ledgers

With traditional infrastructure likely to coexist with DLT systems for some time, Beau highlighted the need for central bank money to be available irrespective of the infrastructure used.

• Supporting coexistence of traditional and DLT infrastructures to prevent fragmentation and ensure safe settlement processes
• Participation in developing platforms like the European Shared Ledger for seamless tokenized transactions.

Beau concluded his keynote with a commitment to regulatory frameworks that promote innovation and emphasised the need to adapt central bank services to the needs of an increasingly digital economy.

Watch Full Session

Speakers:

• Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor, Banque de France