Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, stated that digital assets will have a transformative impact on UK financial markets, improving efficiencies and enabling quicker capital flows. Speaking at the Financial Times Digital Assets Summit, she emphasized the need to 'minimize frictions' between UK and US regulatory regimes for digital assets. Rigby highlighted upcoming stablecoin legislation by the FCA and Bank of England, with an authorization portal opening later this year. She also noted the launch of a stablecoin regulatory sandbox and a consultation on a unified framework for traditional and tokenized payments, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Rigby stressed the importance of embracing innovation and ensuring proportionate regulation to drive growth in the financial services sector.

Key facts

• Digital assets will transform UK financial markets, improving efficiencies and capital flows.
• Rigby calls for minimizing frictions between UK and US digital asset regulations.
• FCA and Bank of England stablecoin legislation portal to open later this year.
• Consultation on unified payment framework for stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
• UK embracing innovation with proportionate regulation for digital assets.