Recommendations of the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future

On 14 July 2026, His Majesty’s Treasury in the UK (HMT) and the U.S. Treasury published the first ten recommendations of the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future (TTMF). signaling a significant policy commitment to closer regulatory cooperation across digital assets and capital markets. Although the recommendations do not introduce new legal obligations, they provide an important indication of the future direction for regulators and policymakers in both jurisdictions.

Background

The TTMF was established by HMT and the U.S. Treasury following an announcement by former UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during President Trump's September 2025 state visit to the UK. Its mandate is to strengthen UK-U.S. financial services cooperation, with an initial focus on digital assets and capital markets.

The recommendations will now be taken forward through the UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group (FRWG), with significant involvement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Bank of England, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other regulators.

Digital assets

TTMF identifies digital assets as a strategic area needing greater bilateral cooperation and regulatory alignment to support innovation, reduce cross-border market fragmentation and accelerate adoption of tokenization to benefit consumers and businesses.

1. Industry-led tokenization initiative

The UK and U.S. intend to establish a one-year industry-led working group to develop and test practical cross-border tokenization use cases. The initiative will focus on identifying legal, regulatory and technical barriers to wider adoption of tokenized financial instruments while developing best practices for cross-border implementation.

2. Harmonized regulatory treatment of tokenized assets

Perhaps the most significant recommendation is a commitment by UK and U.S. regulators to explore common regulatory treatment of tokenized assets, including:

• Settlement finality for tokenized securities;
• The use of stablecoins and tokenized money market funds as margin collateral at central counterparties; and
• Greater use of regulatory flexibility to provide timely market certainty.

Although no harmonized framework is proposed, the recommendation suggests regulators recognize that inconsistent treatment could inhibit the development of cross-border tokenized markets.

3. Joint stablecoin policy

The two governments also published a joint statement on stablecoins, reflecting a shared objective of supporting interoperable cross-border stablecoin markets while respecting each jurisdiction's ongoing domestic legislative processes.

Given the UK's proposed stablecoin regime and the developing U.S. federal legislative framework, firms should expect increased regulatory dialogue between the two jurisdictions.

4. Promotion of a multi-money future

The Taskforce explicitly recognizes a future financial system in which stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits and other forms of digital money coexist.

This acknowledgment is significant because it reflects growing policy acceptance that multiple forms of digital money may operate alongside traditional commercial bank money and central bank money rather than a single dominant model emerging.

5. International standards for treatment of capital

The UK and U.S. also intend to coordinate their engagement at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision concerning the targeted review of the prudential treatment of crypto-assets, advocating standards that are:

• Technology neutral;
• Evidence based; and
• Capable of accommodating future innovation.

Any coordinated engagement could ultimately influence the evolution of the Basel crypto-asset framework and the capital treatment applicable to banks engaging with tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), particularly to the extent that a revised framework reflects a renewed, technology neutral approach towards permissionless blockchains and a more comprehensive, evidence based understanding of the legal structures underlying tokenized RWAs.

Capital markets

Alongside digital assets, TTMF recommends a series of practical initiatives intended to reduce cross-border friction and improve access across the UK and U.S. capital markets.

6. Cross-border fundraising

The FCA and SEC will explore staff-level initiatives aimed at reducing regulatory uncertainty and procedural barriers affecting cross-border capital raising.

Although no immediate rule changes are proposed, the recommendation suggests increased regulatory coordination on practical issues affecting issuers and intermediaries.

7. Foreign Private Issuer reforms

The SEC confirms that, as it considers reforms to the Foreign Private Issuer regime, it will take into account the FCA's views regarding the strength of UK disclosure, governance and regulatory standards.

This may prove significant for UK-listed companies accessing U.S. capital markets if reforms preserve favorable treatment for UK issuers.

8. Market transparency

Following implementation of the UK's consolidated tapes regime, UK and U.S. regulators will explore opportunities to improve interoperability and transparency between the respective market data systems.

9. Derivatives regulation

The CFTC and FCA will consider replacing existing temporary no-action relief for UK Swap Execution Facilities with a more durable substituted compliance framework while reviewing existing supervisory cooperation arrangements.

This could provide greater long-term certainty for derivatives market participants operating across both jurisdictions.

10. Accounting and audit standards

Finally, both governments reaffirm their commitment to internationally recognized accounting and auditing standards and support continued cooperation between regulators and global standard-setting bodies.

Why this matters

While the TTMF recommendations are non-binding and largely aspirational, they represent one of the clearest statements to date of a shared UK-U.S. policy objective to develop more aligned and interoperable regulatory frameworks.

For market participants, several themes are particularly noteworthy:

• Tokenization is moving into mainstream financial policy, with regulators now focusing on practical implementation rather than purely conceptual discussion.
• Stablecoins are increasingly being viewed as part of the future wholesale financial market infrastructure, including their potential use in collateral management.
• Regulators are seeking to reduce cross-border regulatory fragmentation, particularly for digital assets and capital markets.
• Greater UK-U.S. coordination could influence international standards through bodies such as the Basel Committee and, over time, shape approaches adopted in other jurisdictions.

Looking ahead

Many of the recommendations require further regulatory work and, in some cases, legislative developments. Firms involved in digital assets, tokenization, stablecoins, securities issuance and derivatives trading should monitor these initiatives closely.

The establishment of industry working groups increased regulatory dialogue and the prospect of greater interoperability between UK and U.S. frameworks suggest that the TTMF is intended to serve as a platform for longer-term regulatory convergence rather than a one-off policy exercise.

We will continue to monitor changes in the regulatory landscape for firms operating on both sides of the Atlantic and, where appropriate, engage with members of the FRWG as the TTMF’s.

MoFo's Financial Services Group advises regulated firms on both sides of the Atlantic.

For more information on our capabilities advising on the topics covered in this article, please contact the below authors via the author bar on the top right of this page. 

Ryne Miller and Trevor Levine – U.S. Digital Assets

Alexandra Steinberg Barrage – U.S. Stablecoins

Val Dahiya – Capital Markets

Dan Jones - UK and EU Financial Services

Ryne Miller and Rhys Bortignon - Derivatives

Jeff Silberman and Jeremy Mandell – Chair and Lead for our Financial Services Group