Commercial banks, regulatory authorities, and academic leaders gathered in Lahore to detail the operational standards required for digital asset regulation in Pakistan. Organized by the Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) in partnership with the Centre for Digital Asset Research (CeDAR) at LUMS, the high-level dialogue convened representatives from the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA). The session focused on concrete framework design, programmable transactions, tokenisation of public instruments, and cross-border payment structures.

Eurobond Tokenisation and Sovereign Financial Planning

Chief Guest Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, announced that the government is evaluating plans to tokenise Pakistan's existing Eurobond debt, pending formal regulatory approvals. This move indicates a central government push to integrate programmable digital instruments directly into national debt management strategies.

Aurangzeb stated that practical digital finance solutions must align directly with broader economic priorities. He instructed commercial lenders, regulatory officers, and engineering teams to establish risk management protocols and cybersecurity checks before deploying tokenised products to institutional markets. For complete details on the sovereign debt proposal, read our coverage on how Pakistan Weighs Tokenizing Eurobond Debt on the Blockchain.

Gulf Remittance Corridors and Financial Infrastructure Ownership

Bilal Bin Saqib, Minister of State and Chairman of PVARA, urged Pakistani institutions to move away from legacy systems designed internationally and participate directly in building sovereign technology infrastructure. He noted that during past financial transitions, Pakistan acted primarily as a recipient of global correspondent banking networks rather than a system designer.

Saqib called on commercial banks to act as incubator launchpads for technology builders, fund internal artificial intelligence projects, and formalize research tracks with local universities like LUMS. Specifically, he pointed out supervised, bank-led payment arrangements along Gulf remittance corridors as an immediate operational opportunity. These corridor projects would remain subject to multi-agency regulatory coordination and technical safety limits.

SBP Regulatory Sandbox Focuses on Remittances and Roshan Digital Accounts

Saleem Ullah, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, instructed commercial banks to focus on functional operational deployment rather than speculative technology concepts. He encouraged financial institutions to apply to the SBP regulatory sandbox to test real-world applications, particularly blockchain-enabled cross-border remittances and upgraded features for Roshan Digital Accounts.

The central bank executive outlined four mandatory operational checks required for every prospective Sandbox pilot:

  • Protection of monetary stability and institutional liquidity
  • Comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) enforcement
  • Systematic cybersecurity safeguards protecting user accounts
  • Clear consumer protection measures to preserve public trust

Institutions operating under central bank supervision can already review related compliance mandates such as how the SBP SMEConnect Platform Makes Digital SME Financing Mandatory across commercial channels.

SECP Asset Evaluation and Bank Infrastructure Demands

Imtiaz Haider, Commissioner at the SECP, urged stakeholders to identify which specific physical or financial assets generate measurable economic value before writing tokenisation rules. He noted that technical execution should follow economic justification, ensuring regulatory gaps are addressed prior to commercial launches.

Zafar Masud, Chairman of the PBA, emphasized that commercial banks are not seeking protection from technical changes. Instead, lenders require clear regulatory benchmarks to build towards. Masud stated that because commercial banks provide the primary balance sheets, compliance frameworks, and distribution channels for public finance, they must be formally included in policy drafting alongside SBP, SECP, and PVARA from the beginning.

Academic Research and Wall Street Technical Execution

The dialogue directly extended discussions held during the Pakistan Banking Summit 2025. Dr. Ali Cheema, Vice Chancellor of LUMS, explained that connecting academic research with active policy and commercial banking is necessary to solve operational bottlenecks and build local technical capability.

The event concluded with an executive technology workshop led by Umar Farooq, Global Co-Head of Payments at J.P. Morgan. The closed workshop brought together bank chief information officers, regulators, and academic researchers to identify immediate utility cases, select candidate technical pilots, and lay out execution schedules for domestic financial networks.

Frequently Asked Questions for Pakistani Tech Professionals

Which public assets is the Pakistani government considering for tokenisation first?

The Ministry of Finance revealed that the government is exploring the tokenisation of Pakistan's existing Eurobond sovereign debt, subject to final multi-agency approvals and security reviews.

What operational use cases has the State Bank of Pakistan approved for sandbox testing?

SBP Deputy Governor Saleem Ullah specifically directed banks to test blockchain-enabled cross-border settlement systems and enhanced Roshan Digital Account facilities within the SBP regulatory sandbox.

What role will commercial banks play in shaping PVARA and SECP rules?

The Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) is developing a unified industry stance to ensure commercial banks participate directly in policy creation, providing compliance infrastructure and customer distribution channels for approved protocols.

Source: Startup Pakistan