First meeting of the Eurosystem’s market contact group on new technologies for wholesale central bank money settlement

29 June 2023

On Wednesday, 21 June, the new technologies for wholesale settlements contact group (NTW-CG) held its first meeting. This marked the start of the Eurosystem’s exploratory work on how wholesale financial transactions recorded on distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms could be settled in central bank money, as announced in the ECB’s press release of 28 April 2023.

The members of the new contact group are drawn from financial industry associations, the Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Payments (AMI-Pay), the Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Securities and Collateral (AMI-SeCo) and several institutions not represented in the AMIs. They come from a range of jurisdictions and types of institution offering a wide variety of services. While the contact group’s terms of reference do not provide for a formal advisory or steering role with respect to the Eurosystem’s exploratory work, it will provide expert input and keep the Eurosystem abreast of advances in the use of DLT and other new technologies in wholesale financial markets.

The first meeting focused on providing a high-level overview of the envisaged approach to exploratory work, conceptual solutions for the settlement in central bank money of wholesale financial transactions recorded on distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms and an understanding of the demands of the market. The outcomes of the contact group’s meetings and meeting documents will be published on the ECB’s website.

The work of the contact group is part of the Eurosystem’s broader efforts to ensure that developments in central bank money keep pace with and contribute to digital innovation in wholesale and retail payments and that central bank money remains a monetary anchor supporting the stability, integration and efficiency of the European financial system.