Asset Tokenization Draws Focus From Global Securities Watchdogs

• The International Organization of Securities Commissions is devoting new attention to tokenization, the body said in its 2024 strategy.
• Crypto continues to be a high priority for IOSCO, which published a series of recommendations for the sector last year.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is turning its attention to tokenization, the standard setting body set out in its strategy for the year on Friday.

The work will build on the IOSCO FinTech Task Force's existing principles and guidance for crypto, and it will focus on tokenization use cases that are specific to the securities market and distributed ledger technology. The output will help IOSCO analyze whether or not further policy direction is needed, according to the strategy.

"The objective of this work is to develop a shared understanding among IOSCO members on the adoption and current use-cases of asset tokenisation in the securities markets," the report said.

Regulators and financial institutions have been leaning more into tokenization -- which is the digitization of real-world assets. A group of central banks recently launched a tokenization project. A report backed by the U.K. government also encouraged firms to execute their tokenization strategies. Meanwhile, major investment companies such as Blackrock entered the tokenization race last month, and tokens including ONDO have been jumping as the technology advances.

Crypto has already been a high priority for IOSCO. The organization published its final recommendations for the sector in November and decentralized finance recommendations in December. IOSCO's crypto-asset implementation roadmap was also approved last winter. The body plans to develop an assessment methodology by the second half of the year and will update its 2020 report on investor education concerning crypto assets for retail investors this year.

IOSCO also intends to explore some of the challenges that artificial intelligence presents, according to the new strategy.