Malhotra unveils CBDC-settled corporate bond tokenisation
Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra unveiled a joint initiative with SEBI to tokenise corporate bonds with CBDC settlement at the Global Fintech Festival 2026. He also announced the recognition of United FinTech Forum as the second self-regulatory organisation.
From domestic rails to bond tokenisation
Speaking in Mumbai, Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is partnering with SEBI to launch corporate bond tokenisation settled through wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Malhotra also granted official recognition to United FinTech Forum as the sector’s second Self-Regulatory Organisation.
Highlighting domestic expansion, he noted that India recorded 280 billion digital transactions in FY2025-26, driven by 24 billion monthly UPI transactions across 57 crore PMJDY accounts.
Malhotra urged fintechs to look outward, stating: “The next decade presents an opportunity to build for the world.”
Too significant to be careless
Malhotra outlined strict expectations for expanding firms, emphasizing an obligation to be “too significant to be careless.”
He warned against structuring businesses around regulatory gaps or seeking forgiveness after scaling.
Instead, the central bank is deploying dedicated infrastructure, including the Unified Lending Interface, the MuleHunter.ai fraud-detection system, and the Q-SAFE committee for quantum resilience.
Data must be managed as a fiduciary responsibility rather than a monetisable asset.
Guardrails catch up with speed
The RBI is shifting its focus from transaction volumes to systemic governance and accountability.
Wholesale CBDC settlement for corporate bonds shows ambition, but enforcing compliance across non-bank entities remains the harder challenge.
Global expansion will ultimately depend on whether institutional safeguards keep pace with speed.