On 13 November 2025, the Bank of England, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Thailand announced a joint initiative to explore synchronised settlement mechanisms for foreign exchange transactions, under Project Meridian FX and aims to test settlement models that link real time gross settlement systems with distributed ledger based environments. The participating central banks will assess interoperability across their systems and examine multilateral use cases involving different settlement infrastructures. The experiments are designed to evaluate whether synchronisation can support atomic, real time Payment versus Payment settlement across jurisdictions with varying frameworks and time zones..
Scope of MoU
The joint initiative to explore synchronised settlement mechanisms for foreign exchange transactions will use simulated real time gross settlement systems and distributed ledger environments. They will test interoperability and support multilateral scenarios involving diverse infrastructure configurations. The aim is to assess feasibility for atomic and real time FX settlement.
The participating central banks will explore synchronisation’s ability to support Payment versus Payment settlement across jurisdictions with distinct infrastructures and regulatory conditions. The initiative also considers links to Delivery versus Payment use cases.
Official statements
Tom Mutton, Director of Fintech at the Bank of England, said, “This project explores, in more realistic conditions, how synchronisation solutions might support an open and effective global financial system by providing a new, innovative FX settlement channel. This, together with our RT2 Synchronisation Lab, forms part of our wider roadmap to support innovation and new functionality in money and payments.”
Kenneth Gay Chief FinTech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore stated, “To realise the potential of tokenised financial systems, international cooperation is needed to foster the development of open and interoperable networks. We look forward to exploring how synchronised settlement can enhance interoperability across different jurisdictions and infrastructures through this collaboration.”
Thammarak Moenjak, Senior Director, Digital Currency Policy and Development Unit at the Bank of Thailand said, “This joint initiative, linking different settlement infrastructures through an interoperable and synchronized mechanism, will potentially enhance the efficiency of conducting FX Payment versus Payment (FX PvP) transactions and support cross-border Delivery versus Payment (DvP) use cases. In achieving that, this collaboration will inform our development of wholesale settlement infrastructure by gaining insights from different technical systems, operating models, and regulatory frameworks.”
Objectives and next steps
The experiments will build on insights from Project Meridian FX. They aim to inform the design of future wholesale settlement infrastructure and interoperability frameworks across participating jurisdictions.
The initiative establishes cooperation among central banks and supports the development of settlement arrangements that can accommodate both tokenised and traditional transactions in interconnected markets.
