The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a new Research Note titled “Quantum Computing Applications in Financial Services” authored by Charlie Markham (FCA) and Ross Grassie (formerly of the UK Quantum Software Lab). FCA Research Notes are designed to stimulate debate and inform thinking across industry and policy without constituting formal FCA policy; they present rigorous analysis and the authors’ views rather than binding guidance. This latest note asks a simple but timely question: where might quantum computing matter first in finance, and what should firms and regulators do now to prepare? The decision to focus on quantum in late 2025 is not incidental. The FCA frames this as ...

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), together with four major banks (DBS, HSBC, OCBC, UOB) and tech partners SPTel and SpeQtral, has released a technical report detailing the results of a pioneering Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) sandbox in the financial sector. This proof-of-concept (PoC) sandbox was initiated under an August 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to evaluate QKD’s viability for securing financial communications. The sandbox builds on MAS’s broader quantum-safe agenda - earlier, MAS had advised banks on quantum cyber risks (February 2024) and even ran a cross-border post-quantum cryptography trial with Banque de France in 2024. Now, with this QKD experiment completed, MAS and its partners are sharing key ...

Financial industry CISOs have a new playbook for the post-quantum era. The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) has published a position paper titled “The Timeline for Post-Quantum Cryptographic Migration,” offering a detailed roadmap for the financial sector’s transition to quantum-resistant security. The paper lays out why banks and financial institutions must act now to avoid falling behind in the race against quantum threats ...

HSBC and IBM revealed the world’s first-known quantum-enabled algorithmic trading trial in the bond market. In a collaboration bridging banking and cutting-edge tech, the team demonstrated up to a 34% improvement in predicting whether a customer’s bond trade would go through at a quoted price - a significant leap over standard classical methods. The news, trumpeted in a joint press release and echoed on social media, quickly made waves in both finance and quantum computing circles. IBM’s research division posted that HSBC used an IBM Quantum Heron processor to achieve “up to a 34% improvement in trade-fill prediction over classical-only methods,” heralding this as the first empirical evidence of quantum ...

The “Brace for Impact” ECDLP challenge suite is a great attempt to translate a looming cryptographic crisis into a concrete set of problems we can grapple with today. It provides a much-needed “ruler” to measure where we stand in the race between encryption and quantum decryption. The choice of Bitcoin’s secp256k1 curve for these challenges ties the abstract math to real economic stakes, lending a sense of urgency (and opportunity) to everyone from Bitcoin developers to national security planners. Most importantly, it empowers the community with an actionable early warning system: as soon as a quantum computer ticks up the ladder, we will know, undeniably, that the time has come ...

On July 7, 2025 the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – often called the “central bank of central banks” – published a major paper titled “Quantum-readiness for the financial system: a roadmap.” This BIS Paper No. 158, authored by experts from BIS’s Innovation Hub and several central banks, provides a comprehensive framework to help the global financial sector transition to quantum-safe cryptography. The BIS (an international institution that “fosters international monetary and financial cooperation” among central banks) rarely sounds the alarm on technology issues so explicitly. Their decision to issue a quantum-readiness roadmap is a clear signal that the threat posed by quantum computers to financial cybersecurity has moved from ...

The Banque de France (BDF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have successfully completed a groundbreaking cross-border experiment in post-quantum cryptography (PQC), carried out between Paris and Singapore using ordinary internet infrastructure. This joint trial marks an important milestone in fortifying digital communications against future quantum-enabled cyber threats. By demonstrating quantum-resistant encryption and digital signatures on real-world email systems, the project showcases tangible progress toward protecting sensitive data in the financial sector from the looming risk of quantum computer attacks ...

On February 20, 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued Circular No. MAS/TCRS/2024/01, titled "Advisory on Addressing the Cybersecurity Risks Associated with Quantum". Targeted at CEOs of all financial institutions (FIs), the Advisory addresses the emerging cybersecurity challenges posed by quantum computing advancements. It warns of the potential for quantum computers to compromise widely used encryption and digital signature algorithms, thereby threatening the security of financial transactions and sensitive data managed by FIs. Key Recommendations in the Advisory: FIs are encouraged to stay informed about quantum computing developments and understand their implications for cybersecurity. This includes tracking potential threats and exploring quantum security solutions such as post-quantum cryptography (PQC) ...

International interbank payments rely on multiple layers of classical cryptography to ensure security from end to end. When a user initiates a cross-border transfer at their local bank, cryptographic mechanisms protect the transaction at every stage - from the customer’s online banking session, through the bank’s internal systems, across the SWIFT interbank messaging network, to settlement in a central Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system ...

A new, interesting, report was just published by the Hudson institute - "Prosperity at Risk: The Quantum Computer Threat to the US Financial System," authored by Alexander W. Butler and Arthur Herman of the Quantum Alliance Initiative at the Hudson Institute. This comprehensive study explores potential threats posed by quantum computing to the U.S. financial system, emphasizing the urgent need for quantum-safe encryption and proactive policy measures. One of the most interesting statements in the report claim that due to the interconnectedness of the financial digital systems, and based on researchers' economic analysis, they estimate that a single successful quantum cyberattack on Fedwire could result in significant financial disruptions, causing ...