The Future of Fund Settlement: Inside the Bank of England Synchronisation Lab
Description
Join us for a timely webinar exploring how the recently announced Bank of England Synchronisation Lab could reshape the future of settlement for asset managers. Featuring a keynote from the Bank of England on RTGS renewal and the Synchronisation Lab, alongside insights from three Engine members selected as Synchronisation Operators, Ctrl Alt, Quant and Tokenovate. The session will explore the real‑world use cases currently being tested, the role innovators are playing in the Lab, and why this initiative is strategically important for the UK funds industry’s competitiveness, innovation, and future readiness.
During the webinar we will hear from the following participants:
- Bank of England
- Ctrl Alt
- Quant
- Tokenovate
WHY ATTEND
What you'll learn:
- How synchronisation can remove friction across fund operations, collateral management, and digital asset workflows.
- Why synchronisation is a critical enabler of real‑world tokenisation use cases, including funds, gilts, and digital assets.
- The strategic importance of synchronisation for the UK funds industry, including its role in supporting innovation and competitiveness, with perspectives from the Bank of England.
- Live buy‑side use cases being tested today, showcasing how synchronisation can improve settlement, collateral optimisation, and automated workflows in practice.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This webinar is aimed at asset managers across operations, technology and innovation roles and Engine members who want to understand how the Bank of England's Synchronisation Lab can unlock more efficient fund operations, collateral management and real‑world digital asset use cases.
AGENDA
14:00 Welcome and Introductions
14:05 BoE Keynote: RTGS Renewal and the Synchronisation Lab
14:15 Perspectives from Synchronisation Operators. IA Engine Member Case Studies:
- Ctrl Alt
- Quant
- Tokenovate
14:45 Next Steps & Q&A
SPEAKERS
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Ciarán McGonagle, Chief Legal & Product Officer, Tokenovate
Ciarán McGonagle is a leading authority on the intersection of law, derivatives standards, and financial technology. With over 15 years’ experience across global banks, ISDA, and fintech, he bridges legal design and product innovation to shape the future of market infrastructure.
Recognised in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 (2025) as one of the UK’s top technology lawyers, Ciarán’s work has featured in the Journal of International Banking and Financial Law and the MIT Computational Law Report.
As Chief Legal & Product Officer at Tokenovate, he leads the development of a CDM-based automation engine for derivatives lifecycle events. He also chairs the FINOS CDM Tokenization Working Group and sits on the Lexis Nexis Banking and Finance Consulting Editorial Board.
Jurin Ohyama, Policy Manager, Bank of England
Jurin is a Policy Manager in the Bank of England’s Wholesale Payments Division and previously worked at the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
Martin Hargreaves, Chief Product Officer, Quant Network
Martin leads Quant's product strategy with a focus on how programmable, blockchain-based infrastructure can unlock new efficiencies in banking, payments and capital markets.
He is a seasoned fintech executive and product strategist who combines technical knowledge with commercial and regulatory awareness to shape enterprise-grade solutions.
Prior to Quant, Martin spent nearly 13 years at Vocalink, a Mastercard company, most recently as Vice President, Product Management. A named inventor on patents spanning payments, identity, and multi-ledger systems, Martin is also co-author of the IETF Secure Asset Transfer Protocol (SATP).
Rachel Kennedy, Strategy & Operations Manager, Ctrl Alt
Rachel is a Strategy & Operations Manager at Ctrl Alt, a leading infrastructure provider in digital capital markets that combines blockchain technology with expert financial engineering to deliver compliant tokenisation solutions for funds and alternative assets.
Rachel has a background in accounting and finance across M&A at Canaccord Genuity and deal advisory at KPMG.
Rajan Patel, Policy Adviser, Bank of England
Rajan works in the Bank’s Payments Directorate to design and deliver changes to the UK’s core payment and settlement infrastructure. Rajan’s previous roles at the Bank include work on banking regulation and financial stability.