TL;DR
The Bank of England, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Thailand have published results from Project Meridian FX APAC, a trial of synchronised foreign-exchange settlement across different wholesale payment systems. The experiment demonstrated payment-versus-payment and multilateral net settlement in test environments, but the findings do not establish that a live service is operating.
The Bank of England, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank of Thailand have published findings from a trial of synchronised foreign-exchange settlement across their test systems, reporting that payments could be coordinated across different wholesale settlement technologies and operating models. The project tested payment-versus-payment and multilateral net settlement, offering evidence for further work on cross-border FX infrastructure, not confirmation of a live service.
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Project Meridian FX APAC built on earlier work and expanded the test to cover a broader range of currencies, technologies, infrastructures and time zones. The participating central banks used environments spanning real-time gross settlement (RTGS) and distributed ledger technology-based settlement systems. Partior, the project’s delivery partner, developed, integrated and tested a prototype Synchronisation Operator for the trial.
The central banks said the experiment demonstrated that synchronised settlement could be achieved across systems with different capabilities. It also identified technical requirements and trade-offs. In payment-versus-payment settlement, one currency payment is linked to the other so the exchange can be coordinated. The project also tested multilateral net FX settlement, in which payments between participants are offset against each other; the report says this can help banks use liquidity more efficiently.
The work included consideration of legal, regulatory and oversight issues involved in applying synchronisation across diverse wholesale systems. The Reserve Bank of Australia and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas contributed perspectives as observer central banks. The findings are presented in three reports: an introduction and executive summary, a technical report and a policy report.
What Cross-System FX Tests Show
Cross-border currency trades can involve separate payment systems, each with its own technology, operating arrangements and settlement timing. The project’s findings matter because they provide a practical test of whether synchronisation could coordinate movements of central bank money across such environments. The participating banks say this approach could support interoperability and reduce settlement risk, though those are potential benefits identified through an experiment rather than measured outcomes from a production service.
The distinction is important for banks and market operators weighing infrastructure changes. A shared synchronisation approach might allow systems to work together without requiring every jurisdiction to adopt the same technology. At the same time, the project’s identified trade-offs and its legal and oversight analysis show that technical coordination alone would not settle questions about governance, responsibilities or deployment.
The trial also examined multilateral netting, which could reduce the liquidity needed to settle obligations by offsetting payments. The published release does not quantify any liquidity savings or provide performance measurements from live transactions. Its value for readers is therefore as evidence of technical feasibility in test environments and a basis for further evaluation, not a guarantee of lower costs or risk in actual FX markets.
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From Meridian to an APAC Trial
Project Meridian FX APAC extends earlier Project Meridian work on synchronisation for wholesale payments. The new collaboration focused on FX settlement among the three central banks’ test environments, widening the range of systems and transaction settings examined. The central banks described synchronisation as a service that coordinates movements of central bank money.
The Bank of England said the findings are relevant to its plan to launch a live synchronisation interface in 2028. That plan is a future development; the APAC project itself was a trial, and the release does not say its prototype has become a live cross-border service. The three reports contain the project’s experimental results, technical findings and policy considerations for further exploration.
““Project Meridian FX APAC provides practical evidence of how synchronised settlement could help reduce risk and improve efficiency in cross-border FX transactions.””
— Tom Mutton, Executive Director of Payments, Innovation and Fintech at the Bank of England
What Testing Has Not Settled
The announcement describes results from test environments; it does not report a live deployment, routine transactions or measured market-wide effects. It is not clear when or whether the participating authorities will move the approach into production, which additional jurisdictions or industry participants might join, or what transaction volumes and currencies a future service would support.
The release also does not quantify changes in settlement risk, processing time, liquidity use or costs. While the project assessed legal, regulatory and oversight considerations, the practical legal arrangements for a live cross-border service remain under further consideration. The central banks present the results as a foundation for exploration, not a final operating model.
Further Work Before Live Use
The central banks say future work could extend the approach to additional jurisdictions and industry participants, cover more currencies and transaction scenarios, and examine the legal arrangements required in practice. The published reports provide the technical and policy material for that assessment, but the announcement sets out no timetable for those steps.
The Bank of England’s stated plan for a live synchronisation interface in 2028 is a related milestone to watch. The release does not confirm that Project Meridian FX APAC will directly become that service. Any next phase would need to address the technical integration, operating models and oversight questions identified in the trial before broader use could be assessed.
Key Questions
What is Project Meridian FX APAC?
It is a collaboration by the Bank of England, MAS and Bank of Thailand testing synchronised foreign-exchange settlement across their wholesale settlement test environments.
What did the trial demonstrate?
The central banks said synchronised settlement could be achieved across systems using different technologies and capabilities. The project tested payment-versus-payment FX settlement and multilateral netting; it did not report a live service.
What could multilateral netting change?
Netting offsets payments among participants. The project said this could help banks use liquidity more efficiently, but the announcement did not quantify savings or report results from live transactions.
Is the system now operating across the three countries?
No live cross-border service was announced. The findings concern a trial in test environments; the authorities said further work could examine wider participation and practical legal arrangements.
What happens next?
Possible next steps include testing more jurisdictions, currencies and transaction scenarios and examining legal arrangements. The Bank of England has separately said it plans a live synchronisation interface in 2028, but the release does not specify how this trial relates to that launch.
Source: bankofengland.co.uk
