Here is the latest Central Bank Digital Currency news from across the globe but the first Executive Summary bullet says it all: “The EU is about to establish another key piece of digital infrastructure that will likely be used to facilitate and target the City of London once equivalence is withdrawn in June” – in this case involving Deutsche Borse, one of the big three European exchanges and a digital central registry for securities, moving to a digital same day securities issuance in its second phase and finally a delivery versus payment system in its third phase.
We have been continuously saying that a failure to launch a wholesale led Sterling CBDC ahead of the EU (likely as early as 2023 with France/Paris in the vanguard) could have a catastrophic effect on tax revenues, the cost of government debt, the value of sterling, the global standing of the City and the UK's national security, soft power and geopolitical positioning. An immediate Government directed policy switch from the current Treasury/BoE focus on a retail model to the early launch of a wholesale version would be a relatively cost and risk free insurance policy. But it needs action NOW to have any chance of catching up with the EU’s rapidly developing initiatives.
And all that is needed is a quick, decisive change in policy with very little financial or political risk. That continues to be our message.
For the full report entitled "Project-Aurora-newsletter_E2_2021-10-26" please click here:
City of London by kai-pilger-unsplash
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