What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: ANZ said it completed one of the world’s first live corporate treasury transactions using tokenised deposits on Swift’s ledger, and said it was the first Australian bank to use Swift’s blockchain ledger for this purpose.
- Institutions involved: ANZ, Swift, BHP and Citi were named in ANZ’s media release as participants in the cross-border corporate treasury transaction.
- Regulatory/technical context: The transaction used tokenised deposits and Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, which Swift has positioned for early live use to support 24/7 cross-border payments and liquidity efficiency across regulated financial institutions.
- What to watch next: Watch for broader pilot activity and additional live transactions on Swift’s ledger; no specific next milestone was identified in the materials reviewed.
Why it matters
The deal shows large banks and corporates moving tokenised-deposit payments from testing toward live treasury use, which could improve speed, operating hours and liquidity management in cross-border flows.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: The story concerns tokenised deposits and cross-border payment infrastructure, areas that overlap with Hong Kong’s broader interest in digital money and payment-system modernization, but no direct HKMA role was identified in the reviewed materials.