CBDC Motivations and Challenges – A Perspective from Asia-Pacific
Wednesday 20th July 2022, 14:00 (BST)
There are many motivations for rolling out a CBDC, from achieving higher financial inclusion and higher transactional efficiency to preserving monetary sovereignty by compensating for the declining use of cash and by countering the entrance of new private forms of digital currencies.
Each country has a different set of features and objectives that make the CBDC’s design and roll-out a tailor-made process.
In the seventh session of FNA’s CBDC Broadcast, we talked to two guest speakers from the Bank of Japan and Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, who offered an insight into CBDCs from an Asia-Pacific perspective.
The Session Covered
- An overview of CBDCs in Japan and Singapore
- The motivations and challenges, and expected outcomes of introducing a retail CBDC
- Whether there is a first-mover advantage when it comes to rolling out a CBDC
- Should CBDCs serve as a complement to or substitute for cash?
- The implications of introducing a CBDC on custodians like Standard Chartered and the securities services industry
- An insight into the Bank of Japan’s CBDC ledger design alternatives
- Can a central bank balance the delicate trade-off between the privacy of transactions and anti-money laundering considerations.
- How can central banks and relevant stakeholders assess the potential outcomes and effects that influence CBDC design choices?
Watch Now
Agenda:
14:00 – 14:10: Intro: Our host Carlos León introduces the session
14:10 – 14:50: Guest speakers: Masaki Bessho and Dr Steven Hu
14:50 – 15:00 Q&A: Our host and speakers will answer questions from participants
Session #7 Guests
 | Masaki Bessho Head of FinTech Centre, Bank of Japan Since September 2021, Masaki Bessho has been Head of FinTech Center, Bank of Japan, having served as Associate Director-General of Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Deputy Chief Representative for Europe, and Head of Financial Infrastructure Studies Division. He has represented the Bank in several digital currency/FinTech-related international forums, including the group of central banks and the Bank for International Settlements, to explore CBDC. He received an LL.M. from the University of Virginia (1999) and an LL.B. from Kyoto University (1994). He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.
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 | Dr Steven Hu Head of Digital Assets, Trade & Working Capital at Standard Chartered Bank Dr Steven Hu is responsible for the strategy and roadmap of digital assets to support the real economy, driving initiatives across Digital Currencies, Asset-Backed Tokenisation, and venture building. He has previously led the Distributed Ledger Program within HSBC’s Global Liquidity & Cash Management business. Together with a team of experts, Steven invented HSBC’s award-winning On-Chain Payment, which streamlines payments processes for multiple participants by linking blockchain-based ecosystems to be able to transact in multiple currencies near instantaneously, 24/7. Steven has also been on the advisory/working committees of several central banks, working n the designs of wholesale/retail CBDCs. Steven is the Co-Chair of the Digital Currency sub-committee for the Blockchain Association of Singapore, a Professional Council Member at the Global FinTech Institute, and an Advisory Council Member for Global Digital Finance. He regularly speaks at international conferences, including the Singapore Fintech Festival and Future of Money. Steven received his PhD degree from the National University of Singapore. He holds several Fintech and technology patents and has published a number of journals, conferences, papers and book chapters. |
Missed our previous sessions? Watch the series on-demand
 | 23rd February 2023 Project mBridge: Real-Value Transactions through a Cross-border CBDC Platform With: Daniel Eidan (Bank for International Settlements) & Ousmène Jacques Mendang (Accenture)
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 | 12th January 2023 Digital Currencies: Coexistence or Competition With: Catherine Gu (Visa) & Carmelle Cadet (EMTECH)
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 | 8th December 2022 CBDC Interoperability in Cross-border payments With: John Kiff (Satoshi Capital Advisors) & Simon Chantry (Bitt)
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 | 17th November 2022 CBDC Interoperability, Benefits and Implications- A U.S. Perspective With: Commissioner Hester M. Peirce (The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission) & Patrick McCarty (Georgetown University)
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 | 5th October 2022 Gaining Momentum: Options for access to and interoperability of CBDCs worldwide With: Anneke Kosse & Illaria Mattei (Bank for International Settlements)
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 | 29th September 2022 What CBDC features will drive consumers’ and merchants’ adoption? With: John Velissarios (Accenture) & Raoul Herborg (G+D)
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 | 10th August 2022 Aligning Technology and Policy: The Oliver Wyman Forum and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Report With: Larissa de Lima (Oliver Wyman Forum) & Erica Salinas (Amazon Web Services)
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 | 20th July 2022 CBDC Motivations and Challenges – A Perspective from Asia-Pacific With: Masaki Bessho (Bank of Japan) & Dr Steven Hu (Standard Chartered Bank)
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 | 30th June 2022 Central Banks and Private Money: The Past, Present and Future With: John Kiff (Satoshi Capital Advisors) & Harish Natarajan (The World Bank)
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 | 18th May 2022 CBDC Motivations and Challenges – A Perspective from Latin America With: Ludmilla Butueau Allien (Bank of the Republic of Haiti) & Dr Adolfo Sarmiento (Central Bank of Uruguay) |
 | 28th April 2022 CBDC Motivations and Challenges- A Perspective from the UK & Canada With: Dr Francisco Rivadeneyra (Bank of Canada) & Mehregan Ameri (Bank of England) |
 | 16th March 2022 HSBC & IBM’s Joint CBDC Project With: Mark Williamson (HSBC) & Soren Mortensen (IBM) |
 | 15th February 2022 Critical policy issues & Lessons Learned from UK and China With: Jean-Michel Godeffroy (JMG Consulting) & Keith Bear (University of Cambridge) |
 | 11th January 2022 Quantifying the Impact of CBDCs With: Dr Kimmo Soramäki (FNA) & Dr Carlos León (FNA) |