Hong Kong bank pilot opens 24/7 cash settlement for tokenized fund deals

Hong Kong's tokenization pilot now lets participating banks settle tokenized deposit transactions around the clock in central bank money, extending the cash settlement behind corporate treasury and tokenized-fund activity beyond conventional operating hours.The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the upgrade on Nov. 2. EnsembleTX, the pilot phase of Project Ensemble, now has 12 participating banks and 20 industry pioneers.The customer deposits and the settlement money have different roles. Participating firms use tokenized deposits supplied by commercial banks; tokenized central bank money settles the transactions between banks. The upgrade extends the hours available for that interbank cash settlement.A longer settlement windowParticipating industry pioneers have already used bank-provided tokenized deposits for corporate treasury management and tokenized money market fund transactions. HKMA names Ant International, BlackRock and China Asset Management (Hong Kong) among the firms involved.Banks providing tokenized deposits for the cited activity include Bank of China (Hong Kong), China Construction Bank (Asia), ICBC (Asia), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and HSBC. These ar...