Law and Financial Markets Review

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Central bank digital currencies: policy implications

Daniel Broby

To cite this article: Daniel Broby (2023): Central bank digital currencies: policy implications,
Law and Financial Markets Review, DOI: 10.1080/17521440.2023.2209294
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17521440.2023.2209294

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LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW
https://doi.org/10.1080/17521440.2023.2209294

ESSAY

Central bank digital currencies: policy implications

Daniel Broby
Ulster University Business School, Belfast, UK

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This paper lists fifteen key policy implications resulting from a decision Received 5 January 2023
to introduce retail and/or wholesale central bank digital currencies Accepted 25 April 2023
(CBDCs). It makes the distinction between ‘medium of exchange’
KEYWORDS
and the ‘exchange mechanism’. The former is one of the functions Central bank digital
of money. The latter is a function of the technological approach in currencies; CBDCs;
establishing the unit of account, store of value, and the payment stablecoins;
protocol. Payments, transfers and settlement, are explored in respect crytpocurrencies; monetary
of (i) wholesale CBDCs, (ii) retail CBDCs, (iii) digital payment policy; digital payments;
platforms and, (iv) stablecoins. Each require distinct policy banking
frameworks, and scholarly opinion on these are very diverse. Most
academics agree on the privacy concerns related to account based
digital money. The main areas of disagreement, however, are over
which institutions/entities should be allowed to issue digital money,
how such issuance should be supervised, and how decentralised
digital tokens should be addressed from a policy perspective.

A. Introduction
This paper reviews the policy implications related to the introduction of central bank
digital currencies (CBDCs). These are a digital version of fiat currency.1 They represent
electronic liabilities of a central bank and can be used for payments, transfers, and as a
store of value. They can be token or account based.
In order for CBDCs to be introduced as legal tender, or as a wholesale settlement unit,
fundamental policy issues need to be addressed.2 For example, how they should be struc-
tured and supervised. These issues have societal implications. For example, how regulat-
ory authorities oversee the risk to users, firms, the financial system and the economy.3
These risks include credit, liquidity and market integrity, as well as technology and
privacy issues. They also include the legal risks of counterfeiting, fraud, money laundering,
terrorist financing, tax avoidance and evasion.4

CONTACT Daniel Broby [email protected] Ulster University Business School, 2-24 York Street, Belfast BT15
1AP, UK
1
O Ward and S Rochemont, ‘Understanding Central Bank Digital Currencies’ (CBDC)’ (March 2019).
2
S Williamson, ‘Central Bank Digital Currency: Welfare and Policy Implications’ (2022) 11 Journal of Political Economy
2289.
3
C Viñuela, J Sapena and G Wandosell, ‘The Future of Money and the Central Bank Digital Currency Dilemma’ (2020) 12
Sustainability 9697.
4
N Lockett, ‘Legal Perspectives on Digital Money in Europe’ (1999) 4 European Business Review 235.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s)
or with their consent.
2 D. BROBY

In any discussion on CBDCs, one has to be aware of a key friction amongst lawmakers.
There is a belief by some that money issuance should not develop outside of a regulated
environment, although others disagree with this. This friction is complicated by the fact
that it is difficult to predict which way technology will evolve, and especially privacy pro-
tocols. That said, policy makers have to address this issue in order to be able to manage
the decreasing role of cash, the increasing digitalisation of financial services, and the rise
of alternative forms of payment such as cryptocurrencies.
The introduction of CBDCs requires a technical solution and the choice of technology
has ultimate policy implications. The solutions themselves require development, although
several beta versions are currently being tested. Such development requires funding in
order to ensure a robust outcome, a prerequisite of a monetary system. In this respect,
the technology choices come with associated risks, including the possible fragmentation
of liquidity, the loss of central money control and the aforementioned privacy concerns.
They also come at the expense of privately funded solutions, like digital payment plat-
forms and stablecoins.
The way that CBDCs are introduced also matters. A fast transition from one form of
payment to another, for example, could threaten the traditional way of banking
mediation. That said, some argue that there is a case for improving speed and
efficiency in payments.5 In order to accommodate such trade-offs, policy makers
therefore have to make choices. For example, on how to ensure a fair and equitable
embracing of entrepreneurial innovation. The legal and regulatory framework can
help foster a supportive environment, but this is a policy choice that has to be
made explicit.
Whichever CBDC technical solution is chosen, the relative novelty of digital transfers
makes them vulnerable to fraud and/or misuse. As such, a degree of caution will inevitably
be part of the roll out of CBDCs. This makes understanding the relative merits and impli-
cations of the introduction of CBDCs all the more important. Such merits also need to be
understood at the testing stage, in order to allow for proper evaluation of the various
technical solutions and their robustness.

B. Central bank digital currencies

Money has three functions, (i) a store of value, (ii) a unit of value, and (iii) a way to transfer
that value. A CBDC has to fulfil all of these. Digital money is not new. Electronic transfer of
value is already ubiquitous. That said, many of the proposed technical solutions for CBDC
implementation go one technological step further and incorporate a hybrid form of block-
chain. This innovation is key to the ability of both centralised and decentralised entities to
issues digital money.
A blockchain is essentially a digital record of a series of transactions. These are main-
tained over several computers linked together on the internet.6 It is tamper proof, time-
stamped and considered secure, all attributes that are desirable for a state sponsored
currency. The other major innovation facilitating CBDCs are distributed ledger technol-
ogies (DLT). These are the collective record of several blockchains.

5
D Broby, ‘Financial Technology and the Future of Banking’ (2021) 1 Financial Innovation 1.
6
M Nofer and others, ‘Blockchain’ (2017) 3 Business & Information Systems Engineering 183.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 3

It is worth noting that although a blockchain is a key innovation, a digital payment can
be as simple as an electronic instruction to transfer value. The use of blockchains and DLT
in digital money eliminates the threat from double spending, whereby the same funds
could be sent to two recipients simultaneously.7 A blockchain, however, is by no
means a pre-requisite for a CBDC. As such, for the sake of clarity, a distinction should
be made on the usage of blockchain in CBDCs, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and digital
payment platforms:

(1) A CBDC may use a permissioned blockchain. The key differentiator is that the central
bank retains control over currency issuance.
(2) A cryptocurrency is built exclusively on a blockchain using decentralised cryptogra-
phy. They typically co-exist outside of a central bank’s remit. As blockchain technol-
ogy is peer to peer, its use in crypto-currencies bypasses the traditional monetary
transmission mechanism, and hence the way in which central bank induced monetary
policy shocks impact the economy.8
(3) A stablecoin is a hybrid cryptocurrency built on a blockchain. Unlike cryptocurrencies,
they are tied to a fiat currency. That said, they are not explicitly backed by a central
bank.
(4) A digital payment platform can co-exist with all other forms of currency payments, be
they fiat, stablecoin or crypto.

As such, the architecture of a CBDC is distinct from other digital money that uses block-
chain as a solution and digital payment platforms. They are more correctly described as
digitally native general-purpose forms of money. They are differentiated from cryptocur-
rencies and stablecoins by the principle that they can be redeemed in value from a central
bank.
With no sovereign backing or physical form, there is some debate as to crypto-curren-
cies appropriateness as a store of value, hence the increased focus on CBDCs.9 Stable-
coins, however, offer a middle path for policy makers. That said, they will also require
an enhanced framework of regulation if they become more important in retail
transactions.
Further breaking down the technical architecture, one can say that the majority of
CBDC solutions include a two tier approach based on central banks and financial insti-
tutions. In the second tier, the banks are the customer facing distributors, and typically
where any usage of blockchain resides. There is (i) a direct model,10 in which users have
accounts at the central banks; (ii) a hybrid model,11 where the banks handle the retail pay-
ments; and (iii) an intermediated model,12 where the central bank records the overall
balance of banks. These all have different trade offs. The direct approach is more suitable
7
S Nakamoto, ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ [2008] Decentralized Business Review 21260.
8
KN Kuttner and PC Mosser, ‘The Monetary Transmission Mechanism: Some Answers and Further Questions’ (2002) 1
Economic Policy Review 815.
9
J Mattke, C Maier and L Reis, ‘Is Cryptocurrency Money? Three Empirical Studies Analyzing Medium of Exchange, Store of
Value and Unit of Account’ in Proceedings of the 2020 on Computers and People Research Conference (2020).
10
R Auerand and R Böhme, ‘CBDC Architectures, the Financial System, and the Central Bank of the Future’ (CEPR, 29
October 2020) <https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/cbdc-architectures-financial-system-and-central-bank-future>.
11
J Zhang and others, ‘A Hybrid Model for Central Bank Digital Currency Based on Blockchain’ (2021) 9 IEEE Access 53589.
12
R Adalid and others, ‘Central Bank Digital Currency and Bank Intermediation’ ECB Occasional Paper No. 2022/293.
4 D. BROBY

for wholesale than retail CBDCs. The hybrid model is more suitable for retail. The interme-
diated model is more evolutionary, building on existing approaches to financial service
provision.
With these various models in mind, another consideration for policy makers is who
pays for the technology, the public or the private sector. The cost of developing the block-
chain and/or the application interfaces (in the hybrid and intermediate model) will likely
fall on the partner banks. The direct model costs will most likely fall on the central bank.
The cost of point of sale technology, in contrast to the digital money itself, will likely fall
on retailers. Meanwhile, the cost of developing digital settlement infrastructure will likely
fall on a few large ‘big tech’ companies and the clearing banks. This is one of the reasons
that the direct model is not the most popular choice. Central banks are more traditionally
involved with payments clearing, and as such are not usually in the role of paying to
develop infrastructure. To make this happen, policy makers will have to be more directive
towards central banks, which is often frowned upon.
With all these considerations, the testing of CBDCs in both the retail (consumer) and
wholesale (financial) markets is increasing. This has led several jurisdictions to explore
their appropriateness and oversight.13 Before exploring this, the legal and regulatory fra-
mework is considered.

C. Legal and regulatory framework

The legal and regulatory framework for money is well established. Unless explicitly con-
vertible into real assets backed by reserves, sovereign fiat money issued by a state auth-
ority has no intrinsic value. Such currency represents merely state backed tangible
monetary instruments that can be used for payments and settlement. As part of contract
law, its status as legal tender, however, allows it to be used to discharge financial obli-
gations, when tendered in the appropriate amount and in the proper manner.
While regular property is considered a specific object, money is classified as a category-
specific object in civil law. As a result, money follows the principle that possession equals
ownership.14 This principle should be retained with respect to CBDC issuance. The role of
the state is central to preserving this feature. Without legal certainty, the evolving nature
of banking and big tech will potentially clash with the aims and objectives of CBDC
issuance.
It has been argued that money is a public good.15 In this respect, it is non-excludable,
in as much as citizens cannot be prevented from using it. The possibility that digital
money could be cancelled gives rise to concerns about this important aspect of public
ownership. Money is also considered non-rival, because a citizens use of money does
not impede on another’s citizens use, a key element of banknote and coin usage.
As mentioned, the increasing use of digital payments has prompted central banks to
discuss and even test the implementation of CBDCs. The non-revocable right to issue
sovereign backed legal tender essentially means that central banks are liquidity
13
See Bank of Canada and others, ‘Central Bank Digital Currencies: Foundational Principles and Core Features: Report No.
1’ (2020).
14
Y Yanchao, ‘On the Legal Attributes of Digital Currency’ (2021) 2 Social Sciences in China 123.
15
G Camera, ‘A Perspective on Electronic Alternatives to Traditional Currencies’ (2017) 1 Sveriges Riksbank Economic
Review 126.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 5

unconstrained (unless they apply a fixed exchange rate regime).16 That said, such issuance
needs to be within the existing framework of the state. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 1: whereby a CDBC should be recognised in law and its place in the
sovereign regulatory structure clearly delineated.

This implication is all the more important for policy makers, as the legal and regulatory
framework for digital assets and CBDCs, as opposed to physical cash, is ambiguous in
most jurisdictions.17 Assets can be tangible or (in the case of digital currency) intangible.
Fiat currency can be physical, in the form of a CBDC, or it can be both. Indeed it can poten-
tially exist in different forms simultaneously (a digital currency receipt such as a stable-
coin). In law, this should not change the substance of that asset, although ambiguity
might exist in respect of new forms of money, such as a CBDC. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 2: whereby the classification of digital currency (CBDC and other
forms) should focus on both nature and substance. Any rights and obligations conferred
by ownership should be formally defined in law.

The above policy implication has particular relevance for payments infrastructure law and
its regulation. Payment require a distinction between legal entities. CBDCs and instant
atomic settlement could well change this paradigm.18 This is because the latter results
in an instantaneous transfer of assets. The need for clarity is made all the more pertinent
by the rapid pace of change, driven by the desire for greater efficiency. For example, in the
United Kingdom, the Financial Services and Markets Bill extended the Banking Act of 2009
and Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act of 2013 to cover digital settlement assets. This
in turn extended the FCA’s regulatory reach, not just to CBDCs but also, to stablecoins for
payments. It also extended policy reach to cover issuance and the storage of digital assets.
However, the Bank of England retained its powers in respect of protecting against sys-
temic risk.19
As digital assets are not tangible they have several features that differ from traditional
physical assets and other intangible elements that typically have property rights. Within
English law there is therefore a move to recognise digital assets as distinct third category
of personal property.20 This suggests that in future there may only be a transfer if there is
some change state in the ledger. Control of such assets would have procession through
that control, the same as intangible assets. This further suggests that there could be a
possible separation between property and control, for example with derivative title of
property. The thinking is that, it is haphazard to rely on case law to develop in order to
determine what happens should CBDCs be introduced. For example, what happened
to ownership when there is ‘innocent acquisition’ of a CBDC?

16
VV Acharya, D Gromb and T Yorulmazer, ‘Imperfect Competition in the Interbank Market for Liquidity as a Rationale for
Central Banking’ (2012) 2 American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 184.
17
MT Henderson and M Raskin, ‘A Regulatory Classification of Digital Assets: Toward an Operational Howey Test for Cryp-
tocurrencies, ICOs, and Other Digital Assets’ (2019) 2 Columbia Business Law Review 443.
18
D Zetzsche and others, ‘DLT-Based Enhancement of Cross-Border Payment Efficiency – A Legal and Regulatory Perspec-
tive’ (2022) BIS Working Paper No. 1015.
19
The principle of same risk and same regulatory outcome was applied. To deliver this policy outcome, it was decided that
stablecoin issuance should be fully backed. This mandates that backing assets are available if redemption is required,
and that suitable governance is in place to ensure investor protection and market integrity.
20
UK Jurisdiction Taskforce of the LawTech Delivery Panel (UKJT), ‘Legal Statement on the Status of Cryptoassets and
Smart Contracts’ (November 2019).
6 D. BROBY

D. Payments framework
The payments framework, and hence policy related to it, is by nature complicated. It
includes both the retail and wholesale money markets. In order to understand it, it is
worth re-iterating that there are several alternative digital payment approaches which
currently co-exist outside of the national regulatory structure. These include cryptocurren-
cies, tokenised bank deposits and stablecoins.21 These tokens and digital coins are
depicted in Figure 1 alongside the traditional central bank payment methods. Their exist-
ence complicates the policy landscape.
To set the scene for the way to mitigate payment risk through policy, one must under-
stand the difference between wholesale and retail CBDCs. The former covers interbank
settlement, and the latter covers CBDC use by the general public. In this respect, the struc-
tural mechanics of CBDCs should separate the concept of money as a ‘medium of
exchange’ from the concept of money as an ‘exchange mechanism’. In doing this, one
can better understand the novelty of digital money. Namely, that it represents an elec-
tronic form of payment. From a central bank perspective, wholesale money markets are
the easiest to monitor. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 3: whereby any law enabling a CBDC should differentiate between
retail and wholesale use.

In order to understand the reason for this, one must be aware that much of the wholesale
money ecosystem is account based. Retail money spans both account and token forms,
and as such is harder to oversee. However, digital money such as stablecoins and crypto-
currencies are largely token based, and their pseudo anonymity presents greater over-
sight challenges. It has been suggested that combinations of both centralised and
decentralised approaches can co-exist, although some jurisdictions prefer the advantages
of greater oversight.22
The debate on the future of digital money can be quite polarised, and therefore the
policy outcomes can be quite diverse. Advocates of decentralised cryptocurrencies are
often vocal in their opposition to CBDC adoption. This is based on the view that decen-
tralisation can broaden financial inclusion, encourage innovation, and avoid macro-econ-
omic manipulation.23 The policy case for regulation, however, is largely based on
consumer protection. This is because the concepts of digital asset and digital financial
asset are not well covered in most jurisdictions legislation.24
In the context of these two world views, it is salient to note that tokenised bank depos-
its could fulfil the same function as a CBDC, as indeed could a stablecoin that is backed
one for one with balances in a central bank.25 As a result, money can exist outside of
the central bank sphere of influence. For alternatives to the current system to be incorpor-
ated within the central banking framework, it is necessary to introduce a degree of

21
D Bullmann, J Klemm and A Pinna, ‘In Search for Stability in Crypto-Assets: Are Stablecoins the Solution?’ ECB Occasional
Paper No 2019/230.
22
G Danezis and S Meiklejohn, ‘Centrally Banked Cryptocurrencies’ (2015) arXiv:1505.06895.
23
Y Chen and C Bellavitis, ‘Blockchain Disruption and Decentralized Finance: The Rise of Decentralized Business Models’
(2020) 13 Journal of Business Venturing Insights 151.
24
LJ Trautman, ‘Bitcoin, Virtual Currencies, and the Struggle of Law and Regulation to Keep Peace’ (2018) 102 Marquette
Law Review 447.
25
A Lipton, ‘Toward a Stable Tokenized Medium of Exchange’ in C Brummer (ed), Cryptoassets. Legal, Regulatory and Mon-
etary Perspectives (OUP 2019) 89.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 7

Figure 1. The digital payments landscape.

regulation; not least because a central bank deposit enjoys the benefit being risk free. This
gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 4: whereby any law enabling a CBDC should differentiate between
currency issued by a central bank and one issued by a decentralised entity. It should
clearly state whether, and to what extent, alternative payments are regulated.

China, for example, has banned bitcoin and made its retail CBDC legal tender to maintain
its status as a monopolistic sovereign issuer. As mentioned, most central bank laws,
however, do not explicitly permit the issuance of CBDCs.26 Such recognition is essential
for the conduct of monetary policy and monetary conditions. This can be addressed by
reform of the law for sovereign fiat money, but is slightly more complicated when it
comes to recognising alternative and innovative forms of digital money.27 Policy has to
explicitly address the aforementioned difference between narrow and broader money.
The former being related to retail usage and the latter largely to wholesale money
markets.
It is in the retail market that the greatest ambiguity lies. Retail CBDCs are issued to the
public for payment purposes. The policy design options are based on the type of technol-
ogy, the architecture and the remuneration. To date there has been less enthusiasm for
retail than wholesale CBDCs.28 Indeed, it could be argued that stablecoins are a viable
alternative for the retail market. The proponents of this line of thought argue that,
CBDCs that incorporate smart programmability can potentially be abused by government.

26
The principle of the attribution of powers would suggest that a central bank may only conduct operations on which it
has received a mandate.
27
W Bossu and others, ‘Legal Aspects of Central Bank Digital Currency: Central Bank and Monetary Law Considerations’
IMF Working Paper No. 2020/254.
28
F Hayashi and YL Toh, ‘Assessing the Case for Retail CBDCs: Central Banks’ Considerations: Payments System Research
Briefing’ (May 2022).
8 D. BROBY

Paper money, of course, does not have digital traceability and is harder to cancel or
manipulate.
China has led the way in retail CBDCs with its e-CNY testing and launch. This has the
status of legal tender. The Chinese government has also adapted their legal framework,
introducing a cryptography law and revising the Law of the Peoples Bank of China. It is
worth noting that China has a structural advantage in as much as it has an existing
retail digital payments infrastructure consisting of barcodes at point of sales. These are
linked to the widely used WeChat Pay and Ali Pay platforms.29
In order to avoid breaching anti money laundering laws (AML) and aid the black
economy, retail CBDCs require a policy on know your customer (KYC) rules. These
are regulations that require financial institutions to verify the identity of their clients
and assess their potential risks for money laundering (or financing terrorism).30
These rules are important for preventing criminal activities, and they apply to CBDCs
just as they do to other forms of money. Central banks, or the entities that issue
CBDCs on their behalf, will need to verify the identity of their clients and assess
their potential risks before allowing them to use CBDCs. This will help to prevent
the use of CBDCs for illegal activities and ensure the integrity of the digital currency.
Within the technical framework of CBDCs, KYC issues can be automated.31 In order
to do this, policy makers need to be more descriptive if what information is required
and how best to identify identity. Questions need to be asked. Should the UK, for
example, introduce biometric digital identity cards? Also, should CBDCs have their pro-
venance recorded.
Any retail CBDC also has to take into account existing retail exchange mechanisms.
Retail payment providers charge process fees which are opaque and act as a cost on econ-
omic activity.32 Cash does not charge a fee to cover the cost of the infrastructure required
to support it. In order to make payments, an individual currently had to prove his or her
identity, but this is not the case for cash.
It is salient to note that there has also been scholarly discussion on what would happen
in the event that there is a run-on deposits’ in an environment where depositors can
switch holdings to a risk free central bank CBDC.33 Clearly, a central bank would be pre-
ferable to a retail bank in times of uncertainty. Some suggest, banking run risk could be
reduced by caps on withdrawals and transfers, and/or the imposition of penalty fees and
rates. From a policy perspective, lawmakers should consider whether imposing such con-
straints is a healthy usage of the CBDC and focus instead on trust in the CBDC. This gives
rise to:
Policy implication no. 5: whereby a retail CBDCs should be supported by privacy legislation
to support trust in its use. This should put in place checks and balances to foster such trust.

29
T Aveni and J Roest, ‘China’s Alipay and WeChat Pay’ (December 2017).
30
M Gill and G Taylor, ‘Preventing Money Laundering or Obstructing Business? Financial Companies’ Perspectives on
“Know Your Customer” procedures”’ (2004) 4 British Journal of Criminology 582.
31
D Broby, A Daly and D Legg, ‘Towards Secure and Intelligent Regulatory Technology (Regtech): A Research Agenda’
[2022] Technology and Regulation 88.
32
W Bolt and S Chakravorti, ‘Pricing in Retail Payment Systems: A Public Policy Perspective on Pricing of Payment Cards’
(2011) De Nederlandsche Bank Working Paper No. 331.
33
M Kumhof and C Noone, ‘Central Bank Digital Currencies – Design Principles and Balance Sheet Implications’ (2018)
Bank of England Staff Working Paper No. 275.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 9

There are social inclusion policy issues to consider in respect of CBDC retail payments. For
example, what about the poor and unbanked, or those without access to technology. This
is particularly relevant to small remittances from individuals in developed to developing
countries.
Wholesale CBDCs, meanwhile, are central to the payments landscape. The current pol-
icies and system for international payments works well in advanced economies, but is
convoluted when extended to developing markets.34 Cross border payments need to
be flexible and have the ability to adapt. There is a need to (i) maintain high regulatory
standards, (ii) promote openness, (iii) promote competitiveness, (iv) deliver fair and pro-
portionate regulations and (v) support economic growth through innovation.35 Techni-
cally speaking, a form of wholesale CBDCs already exist, as payments in fiat money are
digital in nature.
The scholarly discussion on CBDCs is focused on tokenised forms, the next generation
of Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS).36 This technology facilitates atomic payments and
smart contracts.37
Payment policy for wholesale CBDCs will not be formed in a vacuum. The Society for
Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is already the established
protocol for payments used by the majority, but not all countries.38 It is a robust
approach that delivers the majority of payments within 24 hours, and a substantial
number of payments within five minutes. That said, it is not instantaneous and
without frictions. It is also not ubiquitous, nor end to end. Payments are subject to
delay, the majority of which occur as a result of the receiving party. In order to
address this, wholesale CBDCs need to combine the sending and receiving parties
with one single act.
It is also salient to note that the use of CBDCs for cross-border transactions will require
international cooperation, which may be complicated by the varying approaches to
digital assets by different countries.39 This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 6: whereby wholesale CBDC innovation and testing should be sup-
ported by removing any unnecessary regulatory burdens.

E. Systemic risk
As the issuance and use of money is central to any economy, the potential of systemic risk
of a CBDC has to be considered. In this respect, policy makers need to understand
whether CBDCs facilitate contagion and/or financial market failure.40

34
D Zetzsche and others, ‘DLT-Based Enhancement of Cross-Border Payment Efficiency – A Legal and Regulatory Perspec-
tive’ (2021) 1–2 Law and Financial Markets Review 70.
35
HM Treasury, ‘The Wholesale Markets Review: Consultation Response’ (March 2022).
36
EA Opare and K Kim, ‘Design Practices for Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies from the World’ in Symposium on
Cryptography and Information Security (Kochi, Japan, 28–31 January) (2020).
37
There are also applications in the way that compliance and data can be addressed.
38
T Qiu, R Zhang and Y Gao, ‘Ripple vs. SWIFT: Transforming Cross Border Remittance using Blockchain Technology’ (2019)
147 Procedia Computer Science 428.
39
The US Federal Reserve is considering issuing a CBDC and has established the Digital Dollar Project to outline the next
steps. In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is working on developing digital identity to support a future
CBDC.
40
S Martínez-Jaramillo and others, ‘Systemic Risk, Financial Contagion and Financial Fragility’ (2010) 11 Journal of Econ-
omic Dynamics and Control 2358.
10 D. BROBY

In the case of CBDCs, the main systemic risk is the potential for a technology failure of the
central bank server system, its associated financial institutions and/or the internet.41 This
could be caused by a variety of factors, such as a cyber-attack, a technical malfunction,
or other technological issues. If the system supporting the CBDC were to fail, it could poten-
tially disrupt the entire financial system and have serious consequences for the economy.
To mitigate this risk, central banks would need to put in place robust security measures and
ensure that the system supporting the CBDC is highly resilient. For these reasons, policy
makers should be cautious when prescribing the design of a CBDC. For example, a retail
CBDC that has a date expiry in built to encourage consumption. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 7: whereby the introduction of a CBDC requires a robust national
digital infrastructure and disaster recovery plan.

Any issuance by a central bank, be it CBDC or otherwise, has balance sheet implications
and hence systemic concerns. This issuance of a new form of money could impact the
transmission mechanism.42 It is suggested that this could be managed by limiting
CBDC issuance and dissemination.43 To do this, a CBDC should be on par with all other
forms of central bank currency. That said, whether a CBDC would be considered as
such is a mote point. As mentioned, there is a concern that in the event of a banking
run, a CBDC could be a preferred form of money and displace bank deposits. This
might in turn alter a banks susceptibility to distress.44 This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 8: whereby a central bank has to decide whether the CBDC is to be
interest bearing, as well as how that interest rate is determined relative to the reserve rate.

In summary, the key systemic observations in the literature are that design matters,45
disintermediation risk will be limited, and the risk of bank runs might be manageable. The
factors that drive the method of payment include the transaction cost, the ease of use and
affordability. Likewise, the public is concerned about security. The amount a consumer
might put into a CBDC would depend on the interest rate associated with deposits.46

F. Monetary policy
The monetary policy implications of CBDCs are mostly theoretical but have real world
economic consequences.47 In addition to running monetary policy, central banks also
oversee operations, maintain currency reserves and issue currency. The latter is typically
in the form of ‘narrow money’, such as banknotes or short-term time deposits; as well as

41
C Labovitz, A Ahuja and F Jahanian, ‘Experimental Study of Internet Stability and Backbone Failures’ in Digest of Papers.
Twenty-Ninth Annual International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing (IEEE 1999) 278.
42
J Meaning and others, ‘Broadening Narrow Money: Monetary Policy with a Central Bank Digital Currency’ (2018) Inter-
national Journal of Central Banking 1.
43
U Bindseil, ‘Central Bank Digital Currency: Financial System Implications And Control’ (2019) 4 International Journal of
Political Economy 303.
44
P Callesen, ‘Can Banking be Sustainable in the Future? A Perspective from Danmarks Nationalbank’ Speech at the
Copenhagen Business School (30 October 2017) <https://www.bis.org/review/r171031c.htm>.
45
K Huynh and others, ‘Demand for Payment Services and Consumer Welfare: The Introduction of a Central Bank Digital
Currency’ Bank of Canada Staff Working Paper 2020-7.
46
J Li, ‘Predicting the Demand for Central Bank Digital Currency: A Structural Analysis with Survey Data’ (2023) 134 Journal
of Monetary Economics 73.
47
This is the result of the actions taken by a central bank to manage the money supply and achieve macroeconomic goals.
Any issuance of CBDC would be just one aspect of this.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 11

‘broad money’ in the form of longer-term deposits.48 Retail CBDCs are essentially ‘narrow
money’. Wholesale CBDCs, meanwhile, refer to interbank transactions and their settle-
ment by central bank reserves. In this respect, they are part of the national payment infra-
structure and restricted to a limited group of users.49
A central bank has a mandate to manage inflation through the setting of interest
rates.50 In order to do this, it has the ability to set interest rates, buy or sell government
bonds, and change the reserve requirements for commercial banks. The question there-
fore arises as to what level of interest should be applied to CBDC deposits. The goal of
monetary policy is to maintain systemic stability, price stability, full employment, and
economic growth. The untried nature of CBDCs could see monetary mistakes potentially
threaten systemic stability, without appropriate policy considerations. Consider, for
example, a world where sovereign retail CBDCs yielded a rate of return the same as a
deposit account. The logical preference would to be to hold CBDCs in digital wallets
rather than banks.
Consider also the competitive nature of CBDCs with cryptocurrencies. Traditionally, as
part of the monetary transmission mechanism, a central bank issues currency, supports
the payment system and acts as a bank of last resort to ensure financial stability.51 As cryp-
tocurrencies represent an innovation in both the medium of exchange and the exchange
mechanism, they do not fulfil these functions. They were developed in order to be trans-
ferred without a trusted third party. As a result, unlike fiat money, they are largely
unbacked by assets. As such, policy makers need to consider what the implications of
CBDC issuance will be on the cryptocurrency markets.
Similarly, CBDC issuance will compete with other forms of digital money. Digital
payment platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay, also mediums of exchange, are similarly
based on fiat money.52 These are both within or without the reach of a central bank. The
policy challenge is therefore not simply a choice between paper versus digital (medium of
exchange), but a decision on which forms of digital to endorse (exchange mechanism).
This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 9: Whereby any law giving legal recognition to a CBDC should refer to
both the medium of exchange and the exchange mechanism, as well as being worded in
technology agnostic way.

As a CBDC is an exchange mechanism, the focus on technology is an important part of

CBDC policy formulation. There is an element of ‘fear of missing out’ by central banks
and lawmakers as a result of the pace of change. According to the Atlantic Council, as
at November 2022, 10 countries have launched a CBDC and 105 countries are exploring
the concept.53

48
Measures of money supply differ between jurisdictions. There are several measures, that capture narrow and broad
monetary aggregates. Narrow money supply measure typically cover the most liquid assets. Broader money supply
measures include the less liquid types of assets.
49
A Carstens, ‘The Future of Money and Payments’ Speech held at the Central Bank of Ireland, Dublin (22 March 2019)
<https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp190322.htm>.
50
RE Lucas, ‘Two Illustrations of the Quantity Theory of Money’ (1980) 5 The American Economic Review 1005.
51
F Giavazzi and A Giovannini, ‘Central Banks and the Financial System’ in S Eijffinger and D Masciandaro (eds), Handbook
of Central Banking, Financial Regulation and Supervision (Elgar 2011) 3.
52
YM Kow, G Xinning Gui and W Cheng, ‘Special Digital Monies: The Design of Alipay and WeChat Wallet for Mobile
Payment Practices in China’ in IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (Springer 2017) 136.
53
<https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/>.
12 D. BROBY

Despite offering a medium of exchange, cryptocurrencies and stablecoins were devel-

oped outside the scope of financial regulation. Central banks, regulators and lawmakers
are therefore still developing regulation of crypto related technologies. As there is a desire
to protect consumers, investors, and financial stability, several scholarly debates about the
future of digital money have been initiated. Policy makers need to be abreast of these
schools of thought.
There are two schools of monetary policy concern with respect CBDCs, as distinct from
cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. These are largely accepted as misplaced. The first is that
failure to implement them in the first wave will result in a loss of financial competitive-
ness. Scholars suggests this is not the case.54 The second is that being first to implement
will result in a loss of financial stability. Other scholars suggest that in times of crisis a
central bank can lend all the deposits in CBDC account to commercial banks.55 That
said, both concerns illustrate that there is a perceived trade-off between cost and
speed. The duration of law-making is beyond the scope of this paper, suffice it to say
that speed holds both normative and practical importance in a rapidly digitalising world.
The speed of adoption is, however, a policy issue. It is the nature of digital innovation
that regulators find it difficult to adapt rules and regulations.56 That said, caveat emptor
ignores the growing importance of digital assets and hence transactions using CBDCs.
Further, central bankers are not technologists and there are risks in CBDC usage until
tried and tested. It is important to recognise, in this respect, that there are positive use
cases for tokenisation, where for example the synchronisation of money transfer can be
made with an intermediary. There are also clear use cases in cross border finance and
wholesale money markets. The trick for policy makers is to get the balance right.
Clearly, some digital initiatives will fail. In this respect, policy makers should ensure
when there is failure, they fail well. In other words, facilitate a framework for an
‘orderly failure’, with consumer protection and transition back up plans. Similarly,
failure can have a systemic consequence if contagion arises. As such, lawmakers need
to adopt legislation to ensure the conduct and orderliness of both financial and money
markets. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 10: whereby any law giving legal recognition to a CBDC should refer
to, or delegate powers, to ensure financial stability. Such a law should also specify whether
the CBDC is universally accessible, or not.

As mentioned, there are tokenised alternatives to CBDCs. From a policy perspective, it is

worth considering the use of tokenisation to achieve a more efficient digital payments
environment. Tokenisation is the process of exchanging identifiable financial data for
non-identifiable data called ‘tokens’. These can take the form of payment/exchange
tokens, utility tokens, or security tokens.
Tokenisation facilitates atomic settlement, the instant exchange of assets, which is a
function of wholesale markets.57 Such settlement requires policy makers to also make

54
M Chorzempa, ‘China, the United States, and Central Bank Digital Currencies: How Important is it to be First?’ (2021) 1
China Economic Journal 102.
55
M Kumhof and C Noone, ‘Central Bank Digital Currencies—Design Principles for Financial Stability’ (2021) 71 Economic
Analysis and Policy 553.
56
PL Athanassiou, Digital Innovation in Financial Services: Legal Challenges and Regulatory Policy Issues (Kluwer 2016).
57
Y Lee and others, ‘Atomic Cross-Chain Settlement Model for Central Banks Digital Currency’ (2021) 580 Information
Sciences 838.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 13

rules relating to the liquidity, margin and the alignment of records in a real time environ-
ment. There are other advantages to tokenisation, namely improving record keeping and
transfer of funds outside of the banking system (the latter also being a disadvantage).
This is not just an issue for central banks. There are several private initiatives in respect
of tokenisation. These are typically led by the large banks like JP Morgan, often in co-oper-
ation with Big Tech. These initiatives are largely focused on G7 and G20 corridors. They are
particularly focused on the attraction of programmability. That said, the vision of intero-
perability between fiat and tokenised forms of money is still some way off. The execution
of a smart contract are automatic. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 11: whereby the need for potential smart programmability of digital
currencies has to be addressed in law.

Whilst this issue is not currently on the radar of most CBDC development, it is a major
public concern. There are concerns that CBDCs could be programmed to have spending
directed and/or potentially time expired.
When considering the private sector, it is worth noting that crypto assets are not
well suited to provide collateral to counterparties in financial markets. They are un-
backed instruments that are extremely volatile. In decentralised finance, it is the
code that manages the risk rather than centralised authorities. The robustness and
resilience have not been tested at scale and where it has been stressed has shown
to be unstable. Moreover, it is often unclear what governance protocols are being
followed.
The assumption in financial markets is that any tokenisation should be permissioned
and closed.58 This is very different from the decentralised and open tokens of crypto-
currencies. It should be pointed out that the distributed nature and the programmabi-
lity of such tokenisation may have advantages, for example tokenised technology to
enhance settlement.59 Cryptocurrencies are unsuitable for this as they are unbacked.
Stablecoins are potentially unsuitable as they are unlikely to have deposit insurance.
This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 12: whereby the fact that CBDCs will compete with cryptocurrencies
means that the status of the latter should also be better defined within law to avoid any
ambiguity.

G. Security
A security breach would seriously undermine any CBDC. The security of a CBDC is heavily
dependent on its technical architecture and that in turn has policy considerations.60 A
well-designed and implemented technical architecture can help ensure the integrity
and stability of the digital currency, and protect against potential vulnerabilities and
threats.61 A fully functional CBDC is part of a nations essential infrastructure. Using
advanced encryption and authentication protocols can help prevent unauthorised

58
C Lin and others, ‘Ppchain: A Privacy-Preserving Permissioned Blockchain Architecture for Cryptocurrency and Other
Regulated Applications’ (2020) 3 IEEE Systems Journal 4367.
59
BIS, ‘Annual Economic Report’ (2022) 75.
60
C Minwalla, ‘Security of a CBDC’ Bank of Canada Staff Analytical Note 2020-11.
61
D Shah and others, ‘Technology Approach for a CBDC’ Bank of Canada Staff Analytical Note 2020-6.
14 D. BROBY

access to the CBDC.62 and implementing robust network infrastructure can help ensure
that transactions are processed efficiently and without interruption.
At the same time, a poorly designed or implemented technical architecture can leave a
CBDC vulnerable to attacks and other security risks.63 For example, if the security proto-
cols used to protect the CBDC are weak or outdated, they may be easily exploited by
hackers. Similarly, if the network infrastructure supporting the CBDC is inadequate or
unreliable, it could lead to slow transaction processing or even outages.
Overall, the technical architecture of a CBDC plays a critical role in its security, and
therefore it is important for central banks and other authorities to carefully consider
and design this aspect of the digital currency. Human frailty should also be catered for.
What happens, for example, if you lose your password to your digital wallet?
There are key security management methods that can be mandated by policy, such as
key custodians, custodial wallets, hot wallets (connected to the internet) and/or cold
wallets (not connected to the internet). Likewise, there are approaches to multi signature
authentication that look promising from a policy implementation perspective.64
In response to these human issues, it is the technical architecture of a CBDC that deter-
mines it security. Policy makers should ensure the infrastructure backbone of a CBDC
should be available round the clock. It should also support offline payments. A decision
has to be made on who can deploy the CBDC, who does the vetting, who carries out
the rectification. It should also be resilient to hacking. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 13: whereby any cybersecurity challenge should be addressed. There
should be a zero trust approach and a multi-layer defence strategy should be built into the
CBDC infrastructure.

H. Privacy
Closely allied to security is privacy. Privacy is an important CBDC topic, especially when
linked to spending behaviour and source of funds. There is a robust ongoing debate
on the topic in legal circles (for example WhisperCash v MIT Digital Media Lab). As pre-
viously mentioned, CBDCs would require privacy checks and balances to ensure public
confidence. The challenge with retail CBDCs is to make them anonymous for small
amounts. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 14: whereby the privacy of individuals using retail CBDCs, or indeed
the extent of that privacy, needs to be protected in law.

As explained, CBDCs would also have to comply with KYC, and this extends to AML regu-
lations. The implementation of a CBDC could potentially have an impact on AML efforts.
On the one hand, a CBDC could potentially make it easier for authorities to track and
monitor financial transactions, as all transactions would be recorded on a digital ledger
that is accessible to the central bank. This could help authorities identify and investigate

62
A Prakash and U Kumar, ‘Authentication Protocols and Techniques: A Survey’ (2018) 6 International Journal of Computer
Sciences and Engineering 1014.
63
M Robinson, ‘The SCADA Threat Landscape’ in 1st International Symposium for ICS & SCADA Cyber Security Research 2013
(ICS-CSR 2013) 30.
64
H. Xue and others, ‘Efficient Online-Friendly Two-Party ECDSA Signature’ in Proceedings of the 2021 ACM SIGSAC Con-
ference on Computer and Communications Security (2021) 558.
 LAW AND FINANCIAL MARKETS REVIEW 15

suspicious activity more effectively. On the other hand, a malicious government may take
advantage of this.
It should be noted that there is a trade-off between the efficiency and the complexity
introduced by such procedures. On the other hand, the anonymity and accessibility of a
CBDC could potentially make it easier for criminals to launder money.65 Additionally, if a
CBDC is widely adopted and easily accessible, it could provide more opportunities for
money launderers to move and hide illicit funds.
Overall, the relationship between AML and CBDC implementation is complex and will
likely depend on the specific design and features of the CBDC. It will be important for
authorities to carefully consider the potential impacts as they develop and implement
a CBDC. This gives rise to:
Policy implication no. 15: whereby in order to ensure privacy, any retail CBDC requires a
central bank privacy protocol.

Such security protocols are typically a user interface, with a connected wallet that allows
users to interact with it. This includes a command-line interface, a graphical user interface,
and/or a mobile application.66

I. Conclusion
This paper detailed the complex payments landscape and illustrated how the move to
digital forms of currency has fifteen key policy implications that need to be addressed
by lawmakers and regulators. These were identified by a review of the literature with a
focus on scholarly papers on privacy, regulation, technology platforms and the risks to
the disintermediation of the banking sector.67
The identified implications include the need for a clear legal definition of the nature
and substance of digital currencies, the recognition and proper placement of CBDCs
within regulatory structures, differentiation between currencies issued by central banks
and decentralised entities, and the differentiation between retail and wholesale use of
CBDCs. There is also a need to address the programmability of digital currencies in law
and to better define the status of cryptocurrencies to avoid ambiguity with CBDCs.
To support trust in the use of retail CBDCs, they should be supported by privacy legis-
lation with checks and balances in place. Good digital infrastructure, and back up, is also a
prerequisite. Wholesale CBDC innovation and testing should be supported by removing
unnecessary regulatory burdens, and cybersecurity challenges should be addressed
through a zero trust approach and multi-layer defence strategy. The privacy of individuals
using retail CBDCs should be protected in law, and central banks should consider whether
CBDCs should be interest-bearing and how the interest rate would be determined.
Lawmakers need to address the legal status to the CBDC. This involves delineating their
status vis-à-vis alternatives, differentiating between retail and wholesale use, detailing the
taxonomy, delegating the powers of oversight, allowing for future programmability, and
65
For example, if a CBDC allows for anonymous transactions, it could be more difficult for authorities to trace the origins
of funds.
66
The interface allows users to perform actions such as sending and receiving tokens, accessing their stored tokens, and
setting up two-factor authentication. In addition, you would need to integrate the wallet with a point-of-sale system for
transactions (as is done with the e-CNY in China).
67
D Sanches and T Keister, ‘Should Central Banks Issue Digital Currency?’ (2021).
16 D. BROBY

removing regulatory burdens. Overall, the aim should be regulating the behaviour around
CBDC usage, not the CBDC itself. Whilst it is not yet clear whether CBDCs will be token or
account based, or indeed retail and/or wholesale in nature, it is clear that all have policy
decisions that need to be made at the outset.
It is concluded that the introduction of a CBDC requires careful planning, testing and
implementation. This necessitates an accommodative policy environment, and changes in
legislation in order to remove legal ambiguity. In other words, to mandate a legally con-
structed entity with an appropriate method of transfer of ownership. Whatever the digital
future, the policy and technology adopted to support the introduction of CBDCs will have
important legal and macroeconomic consequences.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID
Daniel Broby http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5482-0766