The World Federation of Exchanges has published a research paper arguing that innovation in financial markets and investor protection should be treated as complementary rather than competing objectives. The paper says equity markets have broadened participation and increased technological sophistication while preserving regulatory standards, and that durable market innovation has typically developed within frameworks that support trust, integrity and resilience. Drawing on decades of market evolution, the paper contends that regulators do not need to choose between encouraging innovation and maintaining investor protection. It also reviews tokenisation and distributed ledger technology, concluding that exchange infrastructure is already highly efficient in core trading and that the strongest use case for these technologies is likely to be in post-trade processes.
World Federation of Exchanges 2026-04-29
World Federation of Exchanges publishes paper arguing innovation and investor protection are mutually reinforcing and sees tokenisation value mainly in post trade
The World Federation of Exchanges has published a research paper arguing that financial market innovation and investor protection are complementary objectives, noting that equity markets have expanded participation and technological sophistication while maintaining regulatory standards. Drawing on historical market evolution, the paper concludes that durable innovation emerges within frameworks that support trust and resilience, and finds that tokenisation and distributed ledger technology are most likely to add value in post-trade processes rather than core trading.