BoE Proposes Near-24/7 RTGS and CHAPS Hours

The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority on Monday proposed extending operating hours for the central bank’s core settlement systems, Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS), toward near-24/7 availability. The plan would add weekend windows and longer daily operating hours to support cross-border payments and settlement of tokenized assets.

The proposal appears in a joint consultation paper that sets out options for weekend coverage and extended daily windows. The paper asks market participants for feedback on sequencing with other payment systems, cyber resilience, participant costs and other operational and technical design choices. Responses are open until July 3, and the Bank plans to publish a feedback statement in the summer.

The paper states that longer hours could reduce timing frictions for cross-border transactions and make it easier to settle tokenized assets that trade outside normal banking hours. The FCA has noted that tokenization and distributed ledger technology could make fund management more efficient and support new products in the UK asset management sector.

Industry reaction included praise for the clarification of plans for tokenization. Katie Harries, head of policy for Europe at Coinbase, described the consultation as “fantastic to see” and added that tokenization could open new capital pools and expand access for individuals who cannot currently participate in capital markets.

The Prudential Regulation Authority issued interim guidance to bank chief executives that treats tokenized financial instruments the same as their traditional equivalents when legal rights and risks are comparable, replacing guidance from 2022. The interim guidance will remain until the PRA issues a broader prudential framework aligned with international standards.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision launched a targeted review in November 2025 of prudential treatment for tokenization, stablecoins and permissionless blockchains. The committee expects to publish updates later this year. The PRA expects to consult on a long-term prudential framework in 2028 at the earliest.

Separately, the FCA opened a consultation on April 30 on its crypto regulatory regime, covering stablecoin issuance, trading, custody and staking. The FCA expects to implement that framework fully by October 2027.

The Bank and the FCA wrote that the consultation will inform whether near-24/7 settlement can be delivered in a way that keeps system risk low while meeting industry needs for round-the-clock settlement of tokenized and cross-border transactions.