Five of the world's largest banks have joined forces in Singapore to build out the plumbing for tokenised financial markets. HSBC, JPMorgan, MUFG, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered have established a new entity, the Global Layer One Organisation, aimed at supporting the development of infrastructure for tokenised markets, according to The Business Times. The body will focus on writing common standards for tokenised markets, a LinkedIn post about the initiative said. The Business Times also flagged the collaboration in a post on X. 【Why banks care about tokenisation】 Tokenisation refers to representing traditional assets — bonds, deposits, funds — as digital tokens on a shared ledger. The appeal for banks is settlement that can be faster and more transparent than existing back-office chains, which often involve multiple intermediaries reconciling records across systems. The sticking point is standardisation. If each institution builds its own token format and ledger rules, the resulting islands of liquidity defeat the purpose. Industry-led efforts to agree on common technical and legal standards are an attempt to avoid that outcome. 【Who is affected】 Singapore's push into tokenised finance touches institutional players first: banks, asset managers and market infrastructure providers that settle wholesale transactions. Retail traders and investors are not direct participants in these wholesale rails, but the standards being drafted can shape what eventually reaches consumer-facing platforms. For now, the practical takeaway for account holders is unchanged: verify that any platform offering tokenised products is properly licensed and regulated, enable two-factor authentication, and treat unsolicited approaches from accounts claiming to represent banks or official institutions with caution.