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The 2026 King's Speech Has a Tokenisation Clause: Gilts Pilot, a New Digital Markets Champion, and What It Means for UK Founders

Writer: Shawn Jhanji
Shawn Jhanji
May 12
5 min read

Updated: Oct 7

Illustration of the Houses of Parliament in London at the State Opening

For founders and investors watching the UK's tokenisation landscape, Wednesday's State Opening of Parliament deserved close attention. The 2026 King's Speech, delivered on 13 May, was set to mark the beginning of the most ambitious digital finance legislative programme since the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Three developments in particular signal a meaningful shift in how the UK government views its role in building digital market infrastructure.


Chris Woolard and the Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Role

The government has appointed Chris Woolard CBE as its new wholesale digital markets champion. Woolard is a substantial choice: former interim chief executive of the FCA, former partner at EY, and one of the most experienced regulatory architects in UK financial services.


His mandate, as set out by HM Treasury, is to deliver a more efficient and competitive financial sector by building a tokenised wholesale financial markets system. That is an explicit, structural brief. This is not a working group or an advisory function. It is a senior, externally visible appointment designed to drive delivery across regulators, institutions, and government departments simultaneously.


The announcement signals that the government now treats tokenised wholesale markets as infrastructure policy, not innovation policy. That is a significant shift in framing, and one that matters for anyone building in the space.


A Tokenised Gilts Pilot

The King's Speech programme was expected to include plans for a pilot issue of tokenised gilts. The UK government would, if this proceeds, become one of the first major sovereign issuers to issue public debt as a tokenised instrument.


The significance extends well beyond the symbolism. A tokenised gilt would require the Bank of England, HM Treasury, and the FCA to coordinate on settlement, custody, compliance, and legal framework in a way that produces a genuinely replicable template. Every private issuer looking to tokenise debt or equity would benefit from the precedent that template sets.


For founders watching from the sidelines, a government-issued tokenised instrument establishes market confidence and implicitly signals to regulators and courts that tokenised securities are a legitimate, mainstream asset class. That matters when early-stage companies are considering whether the regulatory and legal ground is stable enough to build on.


The Financial Services Bill: Merging PSR into the FCA

The King's Speech was expected to introduce a Financial Services Bill that would formalise the merger of the Payment Systems Regulator into the FCA. The PSR has been operationally absorbed over the past eighteen months, with staff already transitioning to FCA systems and branding. Primary legislation will make the merger permanent.


For the fintech and startup sector, the implications are primarily structural. Open Banking and open finance initiatives, currently split across PSR and FCA mandates, will sit under one roof. The card scheme reform work being done by the PSR will transfer across. And the FCA's innovation pathways, including the Digital Securities Sandbox and its fund tokenisation framework, will integrate more directly with the payment infrastructure reform agenda.


The Startup Coalition, which published its King's Speech analysis on 11 May, flagged the Financial Services Bill as a long-overdue consolidation. Its view: the merger is broadly supported by the tech and startup community, not least because it removes a structural friction point in the regulatory landscape.


What This Means for Founders

The 2026 programme is not a set of new ideas so much as a commitment to build the architecture that makes existing ideas work. A Digital Identity Bill was also expected in the programme, with implications for digital verification services and the capital-raising process. The government's broader Growth Bill ambitions, focused on AI and innovation, suggest that the policy framing for technology-led business is shifting from cautious oversight to active enablement.


The question founders should be asking is not whether the government is committed to digital finance, but whether the delivery machinery is in place. The Woolard appointment suggests the government is asking itself the same question. Assigning a senior, credible individual with a clear structural mandate is the clearest signal yet that Whitehall is treating tokenisation as a delivery problem, not just a policy aspiration.

Full details of the 2026 King's Speech were published on 13 May.


Key Takeaways

  • Chris Woolard CBE has been appointed as the UK's wholesale digital markets champion, with a mandate to build a tokenised wholesale financial markets system.

  • The 2026 King's Speech was expected to include a pilot issue of tokenised gilts, which would make the UK one of the first major sovereign issuers to tokenise public debt.

  • A Financial Services Bill will formalise the merger of the Payment Systems Regulator into the FCA, consolidating oversight of open banking, card reform, and digital securities under one regulator.

  • A Digital Identity Bill was also expected, with implications for digital verification services and capital formation processes.

  • The programme represents a shift from innovation policy to infrastructure policy on digital finance, driven by a named delivery champion and a concrete legislative agenda.


Sources

What the Financial Services Bill confirmed on 13 May


After the King's Speech was delivered on 13 May 2026, the government confirmed that a Financial Services Bill forms part of the 2026 to 2027 parliamentary programme. Besides folding the Payment Systems Regulator, set up in 2014 as a standalone regulator for UK payment systems, into the FCA, the bill will overhaul the Financial Ombudsman Service and reform the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. The FOS reforms are expected to address both the scope of its jurisdiction and how it handles consumer complaints. The SM&CR changes are designed to reduce compliance overhead while keeping accountability at the top of regulated firms.


The bill contains no direct provisions on digital assets or cryptoassets. The PISCES regime, under which the FCA has approved JP Jenkins and the London Stock Exchange to operate, and the Digital Securities Sandbox both continue within existing FCA rules and are not directly affected. The bill arrives after the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill received Royal Assent in December 2025 and after the FCA published its final fund tokenisation rules in PS26/7 on 30 April 2026.



Frequently asked questions


Who is the UK's wholesale digital markets champion?

The government appointed Chris Woolard CBE, former interim chief executive of the FCA and former partner at EY. His mandate, set by HM Treasury, is to deliver a more efficient and competitive financial sector by building a tokenised wholesale financial markets system.

What is the UK tokenised gilts pilot in the 2026 King's Speech?

The 2026 King's Speech programme was expected to include plans for a pilot issue of tokenised gilts. If it proceeds, the UK would become one of the first major sovereign issuers to issue public debt as a tokenised instrument, creating a template that private issuers could follow.

Is the Payment Systems Regulator being merged into the FCA?

The King's Speech was expected to introduce a Financial Services Bill to formalise the merger of the Payment Systems Regulator into the FCA. The PSR had already been operationally absorbed over the previous eighteen months, and primary legislation would make the merger permanent.

What does the 2026 King's Speech mean for UK founders in tokenisation?

The programme signals a shift from treating digital finance as innovation policy to treating it as infrastructure policy. A government-issued tokenised instrument would build market confidence, and a Digital Identity Bill was also expected, with implications for digital verification and capital raising.

Does the Financial Services Bill include rules on cryptoassets or digital assets?

No. The bill does not contain direct provisions on digital assets or cryptoassets. It also reforms the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. The PISCES regime and the Digital Securities Sandbox continue within existing FCA rules and are not directly affected.


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