Central Bank Digital Currency Collaboration Organization (CBDCCO) will be founded in October
The Central Bank Digital Currency Collaboration Organization (CBDCCO) is in the process of being incorporated by Nobel Sustainability Trust Foundation. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the CBDCCO will start operation in January 2024. Central bank digital currency, or CBDC, refers to central bank-issued digital currencies based on national credit. The predecessor of the CBDCCO is the Focus Group on Digital Fiat Currency under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (official website: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/dfc/Pages/default.aspx) and its core team. The Focus Group was established in 2017 and first coined the term Digital Fiat Currency. It has more than 140 members, including current/former leaders and experts in policy, administration, and technologies from national central banks and regulatory bodies of more than 40 countries (including the G7), international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bank of International Settlement (BIS), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), payment institutions including Visa, Master Card, and PayPal, banks such as the BRICS New Development Bank, as well as major fintech companies. It was composed of three working groups under the organization, namely the Regulatory Requirements and Economic Impact (RREI) Working Group, the Reference Architecture WG, and the Security WG. Various expert teams had joined studies and published numerous reports under the Focus Group, providing guidance documents for the global development of CBDCs and making historical contributions to the field. The Focus Group completed its work in October 2019, but the core expert team has been continuously working since 2019 to further advance CBDCs.
The main objectives for establishing the CBDCCO, an independent global first-tier industry organization with full support from the Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST), are to facilitate cross-border cooperation and application of CBDCs against the backdrop of a rapidly developing global digital economy, establish new-generation digital settlement and clearing systems, aggregate global technologies and research in this area, and achieve more extensive law enforcement cooperation in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. NST will aid CBDCCO in its endeavour to promote collaborations between central banks on CBDCs, a pivotal task that will help expedite the shift to a digital sustainable civilization. NST will also provide the CBDCCO with legislative, financial, and administrative resources, in addition to other resources and capabilities.
Dr. Bruno Wu was appointed the first Board Chairman of CBDCCO. Dr. Wu, a known entrepreneur, was awarded the first medal for Outstanding Contribution in Sustainability by the Nobel Sustainability Trust and will be the first Head of the Secretariat of the newly established World Sustainability Standards Organization (WSSO).
The board members are composed of ex-heads of states and former leaders from IMF and other international organizations. Dr. Wu “David” Wen, one of the world’s top experts in CBDC, was appointed the Director General responsible for daily management. Professor Wen, PhD in Computer Science from Oxford University, is the Founding Chairman of the ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Currency including Digital Fiat Currency. He held positions such as Chief Scientist at several Fortune 500 companies. As the Chief Security Architect, Dr. Wen led the technical integration of the US federal government project Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors and was one of the main contributors to the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201. In 2011, Professor Wen co-founded world first company dedicated to CBDC solution in silicon valley and its solution has been used in production already.
The first executive team of the Central Bank Digital Currency Collaboration Organization (CBDCCO) includes Chair of the Supervisory Committee at European Securities and Markets Authority, Secretary-General of the Arab ICT Organization, former SVP of Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Vice President of the BRICS New Development Bank, Associate Director General of the Payment and Settlement Systems Department of Bank of Japan, ex-Director of ITU Telecommunication Standard Bureau, Deputy Director of Platforms of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Managing Director of the Digital Money Institute of OMFIF, founder of ITU-Stanford Future of Currency Initiative, Legal Counsel to the Federal Reserve Boarder of Directors, former Senior Financial Expert at IMF, Legal Counsel to the FRBNY, owner of CBDC global status site, former advisor to President Obama, Legal Counsel to the IMF and other top experts in the CBDC practice.
CBDCCO will be composed of five major departments: the Administrative Management Department, the Research Management Department, the Technical Services Department, the International Collaboration Department, and the Department of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Supervision. The organization plans to set up operations in various continents and regions to accelerate the global integration and promotion of CBDCs, thereby furthering the development of the global digital economy.