FinTech and Innovation Forum: Exploring the future of finance with tokenisation and digital assets

Several clear themes emerged across the presentations and panel discussions.

Tokenisation is shifting from concept to reality

Early implementations are now scaling across asset classes. Market participants increasingly see tokenisation as a route to greater efficiency and broader access, rather than a standalone innovation project.

Infrastructure and interoperability are decisive

Interoperability, digital forms of money and standardisation are becoming essential pillars for adoption at scale. Discussions also highlighted the growing relevance of stablecoins and new settlement rails as infrastructure components for tokenised markets.

Regulation is maturing, with progress and remaining friction points

Speakers noted the increasing maturity of regulatory frameworks, particularly in the EU and Luxembourg, while underlining that certain gaps and practical friction points still need to be addressed as market practice develops.

A global perspective confirms convergence and acceleration

Insights from jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Singapore and the United States illustrated a broader trend. Momentum is building across regions, with different approaches to experimentation, market standards and scaling.

Highlights from the programme

The forum opened with welcome remarks from Christian Borner, Country Head Luxembourg and Head of Asset Servicing Luxembourg at UBS, and Jerry Grbic, CEO and Head of the Management Board at ABBL.

A first session was a fireside chat on blockchain, digital assets and AI bringing together UBS experts, moderated by Madhu Ramachandran, with contributions from Juan Tres Otazua and Diana Cezara Toader.

The agenda then moved to concrete use-cases presented by solution providers, moderated by Jacques Pütz, Chair of the ABBL FinTech and Innovation Forum, featuring Reboost, Scorechain, VNX and Zodia Custody.

The evening concluded with a panel discussion on unlocking the potential of tokenisation, moderated by Melanie Moos, Vice Chair of the ABBL FinTech and Innovation Forum. Panellists included Diana-Cezara Toader (UBS), Marc Mouton (Arendt), Paolo Brignardello (FundsDLT) and Peter Hubli (Zürcher Kantonalbank).

ABBL engagement on DLT and tokenisation

The forum also reflects the ABBL’s long-standing engagement on these topics.

Since 2016, the ABBL has been running working groups on distributed ledger technology and crypto-related developments. The ABBL has supported member-driven discussions and advocacy on key EU initiatives, including MiCA and the DLT Pilot Regime, as well as related technical standards. In Luxembourg, the ABBL has followed and engaged on all iterations of the national legislative framework for Blockchain.

The ABBL also convenes a dedicated working group on Tokenisation and DLT, bringing together more than 100 members, and has supported members involved in ECB trials and experiments on new technologies for wholesale central bank money settlement.

ABBL’s FinTech and Innovation Forum (FIF) exists since January 2021. Its main goal is to provide a platform for a direct exchange and interactions between ABBL members and FinTech firms on the topics of common interest in the areas of innovation and financial technologies. Each meeting of the Forum is usually hosted by a bank. The topic of each FIF event is different (e.g. DLT/blockchain, WealthTech, crypto-assets, AI, cybersecurity, bank-fintech cooperation).