People walk on the Parvis de la Defense in Paris' business district of la Defense, outside Paris on March 23, 2021. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)
The central banks of Switzerland and France have joined forces with commercial banks to experiment on a wholesale cross-border digital currency (CBDC), according to a statement.
The trial will look at cross-border settlement of two wholesale central-bank digital currencies, including the exchange of a financial instrument against a euro cross-border digital currency
UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Accenture Plc and Natixis SA are among the private-sector players involved. The effort was launched under the auspices of the innovation hub at the Bank for International Settlements.
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The project will look at cross-border settlement of two wholesale central-bank digital currencies, including the exchange of a financial instrument against a euro CBDC.
“The G20 has made enhancing cross-border payments a priority,” BIS Innovation Hub head Benoit Coeure was quoted as saying. “This experiment contributes to this work by exploring how wholesale CBDC could enhance speed, efficiency and transparency in cross-border use cases.”
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The SNB and the Bank of France stressed the trial shouldn’t be regarded as a commitment to issuing a wholesale digital currency.