#22: Project Meridian FX: Synchronising the Future of Wholesale Payments

20 Jun

8th July 2025

With:

| John Jackson (Bank of England)

| Stephanie Haffner (BIS Innovation Hub)

In this session, John Jackson (Bank of England) and Stephanie Haffner (BIS Innovation Hub) join FNA to discuss the breakthrough results of Project Meridian FX. Building on the original Meridian experiment (which focused on UK real estate), this initiative explores how a Synchronization Operator (SO) can orchestrate complex foreign exchange transactions across different jurisdictions and ledger technologies.

The project successfully demonstrated Payment-versus-Payment (PvP) settlement by interlinking the Bank of England’s RTGS system with three distinct Eurosystem solutions: the Trigger Solution (Deutsche Bundesbank), TIPS Hash-Link (Banca d’Italia), and DL3S (Banque de France). By using the SO as a neutral "orchestrator," the project proved that assets and funds can be "earmarked" and settled atomically, ensuring that one leg of a trade only moves if the other does—drastically reducing settlement risk.

Key Discussion Points:

The Synchronisation Operator (SO): Understanding the SO as a technology-neutral interface that coordinates settlement without ever taking possession of the funds.
Interoperability at Scale: How the project linked traditional RTGS systems with DLT-based settlement platforms, creating a hybrid environment for future innovation.
PvP Settlement Finality: The mechanics of "atomic" FX transactions, where both legs of a cross-border trade settle simultaneously across different ledgers.
Liquidity Optimization: Exploring "liquidity-saving mechanisms" (LSMs) and user-defined rules that allow banks to balance the need for speed with capital efficiency.
The "Lego-Like" Architecture: Why the SO model is asset-agnostic and technology-agnostic, making it applicable to tokenized bonds, repos, and other asset classes beyond FX.

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