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ARTICLE · 23 OCTOBER 2026

Tokenisation In Ireland & The EU

William Fry LLP
William Fry LLP
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William Fry LLP

William Fry LLP

William Fry advises leading Irish and international companies, covering both the public and private...

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The European Central Bank's launch of Pontes and ESMA's analysis of tokenised equities signal a major infrastructure shift in EU financial services, yet Irish company and funds law has not kept pace with these developments. This creates particular challenges for legal title and shareholder registers in tokenised funds. The article explores these key developments and their implications for Ireland's fund management sector.

European UnionFinance and Banking
John O'Connor
John O'Connor
Vincent Coyne
Vincent Coyne
John Aherne
John Aherne
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During 2026, Tokenisation has gained significant momentum across EU financial services.

The ECB’s launch of Pontes and ESMA’s analysis of tokenised equities point to a step change at infrastructure level. Yet Irish company and funds law has not kept pace with these developments, particularly with respect to legal title and shareholder registers. This article examines the key developments and considers what they mean for tokenised funds in Ireland.

This year has already seen a number of developments in the advancement of tokenisation in financial services.

On 21 September 2026, the Eurosystem launched Pontes, a solution for settling wholesale transactions in tokenised assets in central bank money. On the same day, the ECB announced preparatory work to invest part of its own funds in tokenised securities.

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