Tokenised securities: what DLT settlement means for your operating model

Tokenisation has moved from concept to regulated infrastructure: the EU's pilot regime has been live since 2023, the UK's Digital Securities Sandbox opened in 2024, and Australia is rebuilding its equity settlement system. The question is no longer whether tokenised settlement arrives, but what it does to your operating model when it does.

The paper explains the change that matters — the security and the cash settling in the same moment — and what it removes: counterparty risk, margin and much of the reconciliation estate. It also covers the arithmetic most plans skip. Netting currently removes around 98% of the value that changes hands in US equities each day; settle instantly and gross, and that compression is handed back, so intraday funding needs can rise even as risk falls. Old and new rails will run side by side for a decade, and keeping them reconciled is where the cost sits.

The full paper includes projections from McKinsey, BCG/ADDX and Standard Chartered, a layer-by-layer operating-model map, and a practical path that keeps options open — including what not to build yet.