Banks weigh infrastructure and liquidity for digital currencies

Finextra, in association with CGI, will host an online webinar where experts from Standard Chartered, HSBC and CGI will outline how banks can manage infrastructure, settlement, liquidity and control for stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenised deposits following renewed attention from the US GENIUS Act. The panel will be moderated by Scott Hamilton and features Sean Devaney of CGI, Naveen Mallela of Standard Chartered and Lewis Sun of HSBC.

The speakers will describe how infrastructure requirements differ by instrument. CBDCs generally run on central-bank controlled rails and require banks to integrate with central bank systems for settlement and custody. Stablecoins depend on private issuers, custody providers and token networks, which creates more third-party dependencies. Tokenised deposits are digital representations of bank deposits that can remain on a bank’s balance sheet but require token issuance, ledger integration and management of smart contract lifecycles.

Panelists will set out the operational responsibilities banks retain for on- and off-boarding customers, including identity verification, transaction monitoring and asset custody. They will also compare the technical work needed to connect token systems to banks’ core platforms and treasury tools.

Settlement and liquidity will be presented as material operational issues. Expectations for faster or real-time settlement increase intraday liquidity needs and demand more active cash management. For CBDCs, banks may need either direct or indirect access to central bank settlement accounts. Stablecoin liquidity depends on how reserves are held and redeemed. When tokenised deposits are minted or burned, underlying reserves move and internal liquidity flows can change, affecting balance sheet positions and funding requirements.

The discussion will cover implementation costs beyond initial integration and infrastructure. Recurring expenses include custody services, compliance and regulatory reporting, large-scale transaction monitoring, smart contract audits, and maintaining redundancy and recovery systems. Work to achieve interoperability between ledgers and existing payment and treasury platforms can add development and testing costs.

Control and governance will be addressed in the context of external rails and service providers. When settlement and ledger functions sit outside a bank’s systems, the bank may lose direct control over settlement timing, dispute handling and access to full transaction data. Panelists will examine contractual and technical measures-such as service-level agreements and access controls-that banks can use when outsourcing ledger operations, custody or token issuance.

Cross-border operations and differing national rules will be part of the discussion. Banks operating in multiple jurisdictions must reconcile data residency rules, local definitions of legal settlement finality and varying regulatory requirements. The panel will look at compliance approaches that allow banks to offer digital currency products while legal and regulatory frameworks continue to develop.

The session will examine practical implementation questions, including linking token systems with core banking, designing liquidity buffers for intraday settlement, and drafting oversight arrangements for parts of the value chain managed by third parties. The webinar will compare operational requirements across stablecoins, CBDCs and tokenised deposits and identify which functions banks are likely to retain and where they may rely on partners.