The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has published Policy Statement 26/7, setting out final guidance and rules for tokenised authorised funds and a new direct dealing model.
The statement follows earlier consultation and forms part of the regulator’s broader digital assets roadmap. It confirms how firms can meet existing regulatory requirements when operating tokenised funds, including clarifying that “an on-chain record of transactions may be considered the primary books and records” for unit deals, without requiring a full off-chain mirror if resilience measures are in place.
The FCA also added guidance on share classes where units may be recorded across multiple blockchains, provided investor rights and charges remain consistent.
Direct dealing model
The policy introduces a direct-to-fund dealing model, removing the need for units to be issued to a manager before being transferred to investors. Respondents supported the change, citing operational efficiency and its role in enabling tokenisation.
However, the FCA dropped a proposal to require client money accounts for unattributable cash, noting feedback that the costs would be excessive. Instead, it will apply enhanced reconciliation rules.
On omnibus accounts, the regulator said it is continuing discussions with industry and HM Treasury, adding that firms will need to assess compliance individually in the meantime.
Tokenisation roadmap
The FCA said it will continue engaging with firms on future use cases, including tokenised portfolio management and “composable finance”, and pointed to further work on wholesale market adoption of distributed ledger technology later in 2026.
