DLT & Global Capital Markets: Opportunities & Obstacles

Roy Choudhury, Senior Partner at BCG, joined us to discuss the transformative potential of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and its impact on global capital markets. DLT promises to unlock operational benefits in clearing / settlement and to improve liquidity in previously illiquid assets. New payment instruments offering instantaneous / atomic settlement and 24x7 trading (e.g., CBDCs, tokenized commercial bank money) are needed to realize efficiencies. We are still in the experimentation stage of this technology (with 3-5 years to move to scale). Over longer term, we are likely to see DLT-based capital markets ecosystems co-exist alongside existing infrastructure. Most use-cases today are on fixed income, primary issuance and repo related. Resolving regulatory uncertainties could help speed-up DLT adoption and harmonization of global regulatory frameworks is critical. Regulatory sandboxes could help foster innovation.