What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: ANZ said it completed one of the world’s first live corporate treasury transactions using tokenised deposits and Swift’s ledger, making US dollar payments between Melbourne and New York while BHP continued using its existing ANZ account and banking channel.
- Institutions involved: The transaction involved ANZ, BHP, Swift and Citi, with ANZ describing itself as the first Australian bank to use Swift’s blockchain ledger for this type of payment.
- Regulatory/technical context: ANZ said the test used tokenised deposits and shared ledger technology behind the scenes to support faster, seven-days-a-week cross-border processing, and to show that Swift’s ledger can connect banks so tokenised deposits issued by different institutions can interoperate.
- What to watch next: Watch for further live production use by ANZ and partner banks, broader bank adoption of Swift’s ledger for cross-border treasury flows, and any additional milestones on interoperability; no specific next dated milestone was identified.
Why it matters
The transaction suggests banks may be able to offer near real-time cross-border treasury payments using tokenised deposits without forcing corporates to change their existing banking channels.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: The test highlights tokenised-deposit and cross-border payment infrastructure that could inform Hong Kong discussions on wholesale tokenisation and interoperable payment rails, but no direct HKMA action was identified in the materials read.