The European Central Bank, European Commission and European Securities and Markets Authority are seeking nominations for an industry-led group tasked with developing common standards for holding and settling tokenized securities.
As reported by Cointelegraph on Nov. 9, 2026, eligible applicants include EU industry associations, global institutions, private firms and fintech companies. Applications to the European Tokenisation Standards Group (ETSG) are due by Nov. 27, with work scheduled to begin in January 2027, according to a release published that Monday. The three EU institutions will participate as observers.
Standards for connecting tokenized markets
The group will develop technical and market standards intended to help companies hold and settle tokenized securities across different distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms. Its work will also address how those platforms can operate with existing financial systems.
Under its mandate, the ETSG aims to produce an initial set of standards by early 2028. Those standards will support Appia, the Eurosystem initiative to develop a blueprint for Europe’s tokenized financial markets.
The institutions warned that fragmentation could limit tokenization’s benefits. The group may also recommend ways for EU authorities to encourage firms to adopt its standards; the source does not establish that adoption will be mandatory.
Related settlement infrastructure
In September 2026, the Eurosystem launched Pontes, a system allowing financial institutions to settle wholesale transactions in tokenized assets using central bank money.
Original publication: Nov. 9, 2026, at 20:27:06 UTC+8. Read the original Cointelegraph article.