The European Central Bank (ECB), together with the European Commission and ESMA, on Monday issued a call for nominations to the European Tokenisation Standards Group (ETSG), a body tasked with drafting common standards for an interconnected tokenised financial ecosystem. Applications close on November 27, 2026.
What the group will do
ETSG brings together wholesale financial industry stakeholders. Its work is meant to be market-driven and shaped by the consensus of industry participants.
According to the call, the group aims to deliver:
- Common standards for an interconnected tokenised financial ecosystem
- A framework for monitoring compliance with the agreed standards
- Recommendations to EU authorities on how to incentivise compliance
The group will be chaired by participants from the industry. The ECB, the Commission and ESMA will act only as observers.
Who can apply
Participation is open to a wide range of stakeholders working on tokenisation or DLT-based financial services, in line with the group's mandate. Public bodies interested in joining are also invited to respond.
Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Initiating institutions | ECB, European Commission, ESMA |
Institutions' role | Observers |
Chair | Industry participants |
Eligible applicants | EU associations, private entities, global institutions, fintech companies, technical providers |
Deadline | November 27, 2026 |
The link to the MISP package
In December 2025, the European Commission adopted the market integration and supervision package (MISP), a set of proposed measures to remove barriers in the EU single market for financial services. The package also targets regulatory barriers to applying DLT in financial services.
One of the key MISP measures requires entities active in the post-trading value chain, both inside the DLT Pilot and beyond, to work towards interoperability between DLT market infrastructures and to establish the technical standards that support it.
The problem it targets
The institutions note that European stakeholders adopting tokenisation face the same fragmentation and silos that already characterise the legacy ecosystem. Those barriers can prevent the market from capturing the benefits the technology offers.
According to the Commission's call, DLT could bring a level-shift in the efficiency and integration of the financial ecosystem if designed appropriately. If you represent a fintech or technical provider, you can respond to the call for nominations until November 27.