The Banque de France (BDF) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have joined forces to work together on the development of wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC). As part of this collaboration, the HKMA will be participating in Wave 2 of the European Central Bank’s Eurosystem exploratory work. To kickstart this partnership, the two institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of driving innovation in the wCBDC and tokenization markets. The focus will be on ensuring seamless interoperability between their respective infrastructures – BDF’s DL3S and HKMA’s Ensemble Sandbox. By working together, the BDF and HKMA aim to enhance real-time cross-border and cross-currency payments, streamline settlement efficiency, and promote interoperability among financial market infrastructures. Both Denis Beau, BDF’s first Deputy Governor, and Howard Lee, HKMA’s Deputy Chief Executive, stressed the potential of this collaboration in promoting financial inclusion and advancing the global tokenization market.
