The Bank of England, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Thailand published findings from Project Meridian FX APAC showing that synchronisation can enable foreign exchange (FX) settlement across wholesale systems using different technologies and operating models. The trials demonstrated how coordinating movements of central bank money can support interoperability, while multilateral net FX settlement can help banks use liquidity more efficiently by offsetting payments.
The project tested payment-versus-payment (PvP) and multilateral net FX settlement across the three central banks’ test environments, spanning real-time gross settlement and distributed ledger technology systems. PvP reduces settlement risk by ensuring that one currency transfers only if the other currency also transfers. Partior developed, integrated and tested the Synchronisation Operator prototype, a coordination layer that ensures linked transfers occur together or not at all. Alongside the technical trials, the project examined legal, regulatory and oversight considerations for applying synchronisation across different wholesale settlement systems.
The findings provide input to the Bank of England’s previously announced plan to launch a live synchronisation interface in 2028. Further work could extend testing to additional jurisdictions and industry participants, cover more currencies and transaction scenarios, and examine the legal arrangements needed in practice.