UK's first digital securities sandbox participants receive preliminary approval

the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) opened the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) for applications at the end of September, relaxing certain rules for DLT market infrastructure. The two entities that have been announced as receiving preliminary approval are (expected) Central Securities Depository (CSD) Montis (owned by Archax) and ClearToken, the latter of which plans to operate as a central clearinghouse for encrypted and tokenized assets. ClearToken has received support from companies such as Laser Digital under Nomura Securities and Zodia Custody under Standard Chartered Bank.