TL;DR
UK Treasury proposes single rulebook for standard and tokenized payments.
Reforms aim to reduce paperwork for stablecoin payment service providers.
Former FCA executive Chris Woolard appointed as digital markets champion.
The United Kingdom government is preparing to adjust the legal structure that governs how money moves through the economy. HM Treasury issued a statement on Tuesday outlining a consultation period for reforms to the existing rules on payment services and electronic money. The objective is to construct a single set of guidelines that applies equally to standard bank transfers and to newer digital methods, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby announced the move. The Treasury’s plan is designed to merge the oversight of traditional payments with the oversight of tokenized transactions. A key portion of the proposal involves drafting new laws.
These laws aim to cut the paperwork and procedural obstacles that companies face when they apply to offer stablecoin payment services in the UK. The government wants to remove friction from the authorization process for these firms.
The Treasury also appointed Chris Woolard to a new role. Mr. Woolard, a former senior official at the Financial Conduct Authority, will serve as the digital markets champion. His position is part of the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy. In this capacity, he will work to encourage the use of tokenized digital assets within the larger financial sector.
Mr. Woolard stated that the increasing reliance on digitization requires close cooperation between private industry and public regulators. He added that this type of joint work is necessary to maintain the UK’s standing in global digital markets.
These announcements arrived as part of a broader set of measures presented during UK Fintech Week in London. The event gathers industry professionals and is supported by groups such as Innovate Finance. The central piece of the government’s package is the move to integrate stablecoins and tokenization into the main payments network.
The official release from the Treasury confirms the intent to create one uniform framework for both standard and tokenized payments. This means that a tokenized deposit would operate under the same umbrella of oversight as a conventional bank transfer.
Regarding the broader regulation of crypto assets, the UK government continues to develop its framework. The current expectation is that the final legislative package will come into force in 2027. The changes announced this week focus specifically on the payments side of the technology. By addressing the rules for electronic money now, the government aims to provide clear legal standing for tokenized forms of value transfer before the larger market rules are finalized.
The consultation period will allow businesses and financial institutions to provide feedback on the proposed changes. The Treasury’s approach signals an effort to update the payments rulebook without creating a separate, parallel system for digital assets. The appointment of Chris Woolard provides a direct point of contact for the industry as these technical adjustments are made.
The work is intended to align the UK’s financial infrastructure with the mechanics of distributed ledger technology while keeping the same level of regulatory oversight that applies to existing banking processes.
