Tokenization's New Rulebook: Why It Matters for Israelis in 2026 - The National Law Review

On 27 August 2026, Swift announced its decision to delay the November 2026 Swift Standards Release, citing an industry request for additional time to prepare for the removal of the unstructured postal address format following concerns about global readiness. In response, the Bank of England stated that it is also delaying what would have been the November 2026 RTGS standards release, including the messaging standards for CHAPS payments. The Bank said maintaining global alignment is important to preserving interoperability and avoiding new implementation risks, and that it worked closely with Swift and other major market infrastructures to support a co-ordinated approach. The Bank's November 2026 RTGS standards release will therefore be deferred in its entirety, consistent with Swift delaying the entire CBPR+ standards release.

Background

The sources describe a co-ordinated delay in payments messaging standards. The Bank of England's statement explains that Swift's decision followed an industry request for more time to prepare for removing the unstructured postal address format, amid concerns about global readiness. The Bank said it considered separating its own changes from Swift's but concluded that doing so at this late stage would create challenges and risks for both the Bank and industry. It therefore deferred its November 2026 RTGS standards release in its entirety, including CHAPS messaging standards, to stay aligned with Swift's delay of the entire CBPR+ standards release. The Bank said it will continue to engage with Swift, other market infrastructures, and RTGS participants on next steps, and will provide broader updates at ISO 20022: Implementing the global payments messaging standard within CHAPS and RTGS to support organisations amending their own planning as revised timelines become available. No other source in this set addresses the standards delay; the remaining sources cover unrelated topics, including Serbian elections, ECB consumer expectations, an EBA email alert, and a UK-Chile PM call.

What happened

The sequence begins with Swift. According to the Bank of England's statement, on 27 August 2026 Swift announced its decision to delay the November 2026 Swift Standards Release based on industry's request for additional time to prepare for the removal of the unstructured postal address format following concerns about global readiness. The Bank of England then responded. After careful consideration, it said it is also delaying what would have been the November 2026 RTGS standards release, this includes the messaging standards for CHAPS payments. The Bank explained its reasoning: maintaining global alignment is important to preserving interoperability and to avoid the introduction of new implementation risks, and it had therefore worked closely with Swift and other major market infrastructures to support a co-ordinated approach. Consequently, the Bank said, our November 2026 RTGS standards release will therefore be deferred in its entirety. It described this as consistent with Swift delaying the entire CBPR+ standards release and said it avoids challenges and risks that might otherwise arise for both the Bank and industry from trying to separate changes at this late stage. The Bank added that it will continue to engage with Swift, other market infrastructures, and RTGS participants directly on next steps, while also providing broader updates at ISO 20022: Implementing the global payments messaging standard within CHAPS and RTGS to support organisations in amending their own planning as further detail on revised timelines becomes available. No revised date is given in the source.

Market impact

The sources provide no market prices, flows, or trading volumes tied to the standards delay. The only numerical figures in the set come from unrelated sources. The ECB Consumer Expectations Survey results for September 2026, released 23 October 2026, report that median perceived inflation over the previous 12 months increased to 3.6% from 3.5% in August, median expectations for inflation over the next 12 months increased to 3.1% from 3.0%, and median expectations three years and five years ahead were unchanged at 2.9% and 2.5% respectively. The same survey reports expectations for economic growth over the next 12 months decreased to -1.5% from -1.2%, expected unemployment 12 months ahead increased to 11.3% from 11.0%, expected home price growth rose to 3.5% from 3.4%, and mortgage rate expectations were unchanged at 4.9%. Separately, a prediction market cited in reporting on Serbia priced the likelihood of the Student List winning 50% or more of the vote at 13.9% YES. None of these figures relate to the Swift or Bank of England standards delay, and the sources contain no data on payments volumes, CHAPS traffic, or tokenization markets.

Why it matters

The Bank of England's statement frames the delay as a matter of interoperability and risk. It says maintaining global alignment is important to preserving interoperability and to avoid the introduction of new implementation risks. It also says the full deferral avoids challenges and risks that might otherwise arise for both the Bank and industry from trying to separate changes at this late stage. For organisations preparing for the removal of the unstructured postal address format, the Bank said it will provide broader updates at ISO 20022: Implementing the global payments messaging standard within CHAPS and RTGS to support organisations in amending their own planning as further detail on revised timelines becomes available. The sources do not state any consequences for tokenization, Israeli users, or DeFi markets. The headline's reference to tokenization and Israelis in 2026 is not supported by any of the provided sources, and the Bank's statement addresses only CHAPS and RTGS messaging standards. Readers should treat claims about tokenization or Israeli market effects as outside what these sources establish.