Former senior central bank officials from the Bank of England, the Bundesbank, and De Nederlandsche Bank have joined Fnality, a blockchain settlement company aiming to expand its network for settlements using central bank money. Former Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe will chair the Fnality UK board, while former Bundesbank head of payments Jochen Metzger has joined the Fnality Europe supervisory board and is expected to become its chairman. Ron Berndsen, who previously oversaw market infrastructure supervision and policy at De Nederlandsche Bank, has also joined the supervisory board of Fnality's European business, headquartered in Germany. The addition of three former central bank officials to Fnality's governance underscores the growing focus on infrastructure for settling tokenized securities and moving digital money across blockchain networks.
Fnality launched its regulated sterling settlement system in 2023 and is currently working on obtaining approvals for dollar and euro versions of its services. The company, founded in 2019, is backed by major financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, UBS, Santander, Bank of America, and Citigroup. In September 2025, Fnality raised $136 million in a Series C round; the company's total funding since 2019 has exceeded $280 million. The company stated that the funds will support the expansion of Fnality's sterling payment system to additional currencies, as well as liquidity management tools and connectivity with stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
Jon Cunliffe emphasized the importance of integrating central banks and their money into new technologies born in the cryptocurrency world, and highlighted the need to build infrastructure for tokenized assets. Fnality already uses its system for real settlements involving tokenized securities, while banks around the world continue to test various models of digital money, including tokenized deposits and stablecoins. "Several models of digital money will coexist," said Fnality Group CEO Michelle Neal, noting that the company's distinguishing feature is regulated wholesale settlement based on central bank-backed funds.