Imas, UK’s Investment Association join MAS’ Project Guardian focused on asset tokenisation

The Investment Management Association of Singapore (Imas) and Investment Association (IA) on Wednesday (Aug 6) announced their participation in Project Guardian, an international initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) exploring the potential of blockchain and asset tokenisation.

The definition of asset tokenisation is the process of digitally representing assets on the blockchain.

The IA and Imas are both the first domestic trade associations and first asset management-specific bodies to join Project Guardian to drive innovation in the investment management industry.

Project Guardian is a collaboration between policymakers and the finance industry to enhance the liquidity and efficiency of financial markets through asset tokenisation. It aims to establish industry frameworks and standards on asset tokenisation, foster the use of tokenisation across different asset classes, and to develop a sustainable digital asset ecosystem.

This in turn has the potential to improve financial inclusion and efficiency by making tokenised assets available to a wider audience.

The project is run by MAS, and includes other regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

BT in your inbox

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Carmen Wee, chief executive of Imas, said: “Tokenisation offers real potential to enhance cross-border access, efficiency while reducing costs, making investments accessible. A trusted and inclusive digital economy must be built on connectivity and cooperation... Imas is committed to working with our partners to build a resilient and interoperable ecosystem, one where investors and managers better understand the opportunities and risks of tokenised assets.”

MAS announced plans in 2024 to drive the adoption of asset tokenisation across the financial services industry, noting how it was an “inflection point” in the space, with Project Guardian as an platform to carry out industry trials.

Some of these initiatives, as previously reported by The Business Times, include the multi-member network built by Citi, HSBC, Schroders, Standard Chartered and UOB with the aim of commercialising and scaling their respective asset tokenisation trials, and was named the Guardian Wholesale Network Industry Group.

This is in addition to the launch of a wholesale central bank digital currency, dubbed the SGD Testnet, to provide financial institutions with access to common settlement assets for market testing purposes.