Stablecoins in Treasury: What UK CFOs Must Govern Under BoE Rules
UK CFOs must now treat stablecoins as a governed treasury instrument, not a fringe experiment. The Bank of England’s June 2026 policy statement and draft Code of Practice for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins sets out custody, redemption and reserve requirements that finance functions must build controls around before adoption, not after.
Digital assets have moved from a treasury curiosity to a board-level capital allocation question. CFOs who have not yet formed a position risk being caught reactive when a customer, supplier or banking partner asks whether the company accepts or holds stablecoins. Waiting for a formal mandate before engaging is no longer a defensible stance, given how quickly counterparties are moving.
Why Are Stablecoins Suddenly a Treasury Priority?
According to a Ripple survey of more than 1,000 global finance leaders, 74% say stablecoins can improve cash-flow efficiency and unlock working capital, and 70% believe firms must offer digital asset capability to stay competitive. Total stablecoin market capitalisation has grown from roughly £3 billion in January 2020 to more than £200 billion by early 2026, with annual transaction volume surpassing an estimated $33 trillion in 2025.
That scale is why the Bank of England moved to regulate systemic sterling stablecoins rather than leave the market unsupervised. CFOs now face a genuine choice about treasury infrastructure, not a hypothetical one.
Executive Action:
- Task treasury with a one-page position paper on whether the business will hold, accept or issue stablecoins in the next 24 months
- Quantify working-capital benefit against counterparty and redemption risk before any pilot
- Brief the audit committee on digital asset exposure even if current usage is zero
What Does the Bank of England’s Stablecoin Regime Require?
The Bank of England’s draft Code of Practice for systemic sterling-denominated stablecoins sets requirements around backing assets, redemption at par, custody arrangements and operational resilience for issuers. While the rules bind issuers directly, corporates that hold or transact in stablecoins as part of treasury operations need to understand the redemption guarantees, reserve composition and failure scenarios their chosen instrument actually carries — assumptions here are not interchangeable across providers.
This also intersects with existing obligations: stablecoin holdings sit alongside UK GDPR, Companies Act 2006 reporting duties, and HMRC’s evolving guidance on the tax treatment of digital asset transactions.
Executive Action:
- Verify which stablecoin issuers your treasury counterparties actually use meet Bank of England reserve and redemption standards
- Confirm HMRC tax treatment for any planned digital asset transaction before executing it
- Update treasury policy documentation to explicitly address digital asset custody and counterparty risk
How Should CFOs Govern Capital Allocation Amid Digital Asset Uncertainty?
Digital assets are one more variable in a capital allocation environment already reshaped by tariff uncertainty and cross-border tax reform. Leading finance functions are stress-testing liquidity models against digital asset volatility scenarios alongside traditional FX and interest-rate shocks, rather than treating stablecoins as a separate, siloed risk category.
64% of businesses surveyed by Ripple already use or plan to use stablecoins within three years, with 34% using them today — meaning most finance leaders are now deciding when, not if, to build this into treasury strategy.
Executive Action:
- Add digital asset volatility as a standing scenario in quarterly liquidity stress tests
- Set a board-approved cap on stablecoin or digital asset exposure as a share of working capital
- Review INFORMD’s capital approval assessment template when evaluating new treasury instruments
What Should CFOs Report to the Board Now?
Boards do not need a crypto primer; they need a clear statement of exposure, controls and decision rights. The most effective CFO briefings separate three things clearly: current exposure (often genuinely zero), planned pilots, and the governance framework that would apply if usage grows.
Silence is the worst option. A board that learns about stablecoin exposure from a supplier or auditor rather than the CFO will reasonably question what else in treasury has gone unreported.
Executive Action:
- Present a standing digital assets slide in every quarterly treasury report, even to confirm nil exposure
- Name a single accountable owner for digital asset policy within the finance function
- Require board sign-off before any material stablecoin holding or issuance decision
INFORMD provides intelligence briefings, tools and frameworks for senior business leaders across technology, finance, strategy and compliance. Based in Milton Keynes, UK, we help executives stay informed and act with confidence. Explore our full briefing library or access our free assessment tools.
Stay ahead. Subscribe to INFORMD’s weekly executive briefing at informd.co.uk.
Systemic stablecoins are sterling-denominated digital tokens judged significant enough to affect financial stability. The Bank of England’s June 2026 policy statement and draft Code of Practice set reserve, redemption and custody requirements for issuers of these instruments.
Most are not yet, but 34% of businesses surveyed globally already use stablecoins and 64% plan to within three years. CFOs should form a documented position and governance framework now, even if current exposure is zero.
Key risks include redemption failure, reserve composition uncertainty, counterparty concentration and regulatory change. These should be modelled alongside traditional FX and interest-rate risk in liquidity stress testing, not treated as a separate category.
CFOs should include a standing digital assets item in quarterly treasury reporting covering current exposure, planned pilots and governance controls, with a named accountable owner and board sign-off required for material decisions.
