EU Regulators Call for Industry Experts to Form European Tokenisation Standards Group

The European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) opened a joint call on Nov. 9 for wholesale financial industry participants to join the newly formed European Tokenisation Standards Group (ETSG) ¹. The authorities are seeking applications from market participants to establish shared technical and operational standards for an interconnected tokenized financial system across the European Union ¹. Stakeholders have until Nov. 27, 2026, to submit nominations ¹.

Under the proposed governance framework, the ETSG will be market-driven and led directly by industry participants who will chair the group, while the ECB, the European Commission, and ESMA will serve as observers ¹. Eligibility covers a broad range of market actors, including European trade associations, private firms, international institutions, financial technology startups, and technical providers operating distributed ledger technology services or tokenization infrastructure ¹.

Governance and Compliance Oversight

The initiative aims to formulate common standards alongside a structured framework to monitor industry compliance ¹. In addition to defining baseline operating rules, the ETSG holds a mandate to submit formal recommendations to EU authorities detailing potential incentives to promote widespread adoption and adherence across the wholesale market ¹.

The initiative follows wider regulatory efforts across the bloc to align distributed ledger market structures, building on prior work where ESMA Shifts Focus to Digital Innovation and Tokenization for 2027. Wholesale institutions and technical infrastructure providers intending to participate must submit their applications through the joint nomination process ahead of the Nov. 27, 2026 deadline ¹.