{
  "title": "Asia-Pacific Regional Seminar on Digital Money and Payments in Transition",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/countries/resrep/oap-home/2025/aprs-on-digital-money-and-payments-in-transition-1121",
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  "summary": "Recent developments in crypto assets, including stablecoins, as well as progress in tokenization, offer potential benefits while also posing risks to financial stability.",
  "profileBlocks": [
    {
      "type": "office",
      "heading": "Contact",
      "lines": [
        {
          "text": "For event inquiries:"
        },
        {
          "text": "International Monetary Fund"
        },
        {
          "text": "Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific"
        },
        {
          "text": "Tel. 81-(0)3-3597-6700"
        },
        {
          "text": "Email: OAPEconomicSeminar@IMF.org",
          "href": "mailto:OAPEconomicSeminar@imf.org",
          "linkText": "OAPEconomicSeminar@IMF.org",
          "links": [
            {
              "href": "mailto:OAPEconomicSeminar@imf.org",
              "linkText": "OAPEconomicSeminar@IMF.org"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Overview and key themes",
      "content": "- The landscape of digital money and payments has undergone significant transformation driven by technological advances and evolving financial needs.\n- Recent developments in crypto assets, including stablecoins, and progress in tokenization offer potential benefits while also posing risks to financial stability.\n- Technological innovation is likely to accelerate further in the coming years and result in new digital solutions for payments and financial intermediation.\n- There is a growing recognition of the importance of a reference guide and technical assistance to help countries develop sound policy frameworks for digital money and payments.\n- The seminar focused on Asia-Pacific region issues, with particular attention to Pacific Islands Countries (PICs)."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Organizers and cooperation",
      "content": "- Hosted by the IMF's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (OAP).\n- Organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, Japan, and the Bank of Japan.\n- The IMF’s CBDC Virtual Handbook, supported by the Government of Japan, is presented as a reference guide and a “living” document for policymakers and experts."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Seminar objectives and focus areas",
      "content": "- Introduce six new chapters on CBDC providing insights on:\n  - financial stability,\n  - payments competition,\n  - financial integrity,\n  - legal considerations,\n  - tokenized reserves,\n  - payment resilience in fragile and conflict-affected states.\n- Highlight developments in cross-border payments and implications for the Asia-Pacific region.\n- Explore how global innovations (stablecoins, tokenization) can be translated into practical solutions addressing regional needs and challenges in PICs.\n- Signal the IMF’s ramping up of technical assistance to emerging and developing countries."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Structure and format",
      "content": "- There will be no specific Q&A sessions during the seminar.\n- Two sessions featuring IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department speakers and discussants from public sector authorities in Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Speakers and roles (selected biographical highlights)",
      "content": "- Takashi Nagaoka — Moderator\n  - Director of the IMF’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.\n  - Previously worked in the Japanese government including Financial Services Agency; served in the IMF as an economist (1999-2002).\n  - Holds an LL.B. from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Columbia Business School.\n\n- Session 1 speakers and discussants\n  - Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli — Assistant Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF\n    - Focus: digital currencies and payments, monetary policy, foreign exchange interventions, modelling, central banking operations and communication.\n    - Prior roles: Swiss National Bank, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group, technology startups.\n    - Holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute in Geneva; prior degrees from the London School of Economics and Stanford University.\n  - Mamerto E. Tangonan — Deputy Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (PCMS)\n    - Heads Payments and Currency Management Sector covering: interplay between digital money and physical currency; digital transformation of national payment systems; operation of the Peso RTGS payment system; currency production and gold refinery facility.\n    - Over three decades of experience across digital and traditional financial services and telecommunications.\n    - Civil engineer by education; completed programs at the Asian Institute of Management, Harvard Kennedy School, and Stanford Graduate School of Business.\n  - Shigeru Shimizu — Deputy Director General, Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Bank of Japan\n    - Focus: development and implementation of payment systems, including study of CBDCs.\n    - Joined the Bank in 1996; extensive experience in G7 and G20 coordination, liquidity risk management during the 2008 financial crisis, and Basel III implementation.\n    - Holds a law degree from the University of Tokyo and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University.\n\n- Session 2 speakers and discussants\n  - Tobias Adrian — Financial Counsellor and Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF\n    - Leads IMF work on financial sector surveillance, monetary and macroprudential policies, digital money, financial regulation, debt management, and climate finance.\n    - Prior roles: Senior Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Associate Director of the Research and Statistics Group.\n    - Holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MSc from the London School of Economics.\n  - Elizabeth Genia — Governor, Bank of Papua New Guinea\n    - First female Governor; appointed in December 2023 for a term of four years.\n    - Prior role: Assistant-Governor Corporate Affairs Group; led development of Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Policy.\n    - Holds an MBA from the University of Queensland and a Graduate Certificate in the Fintech Program from the Said Business School, University of Oxford.\n  - Esala Masitabua — Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Fiji\n    - Appointed Deputy Governor on 1 January 2018.\n    - Career central banker at the Reserve Bank of Fiji since 1997; seconded to the IMF in October 2023 as Advisor to the Executive Director, South East Asian Constituency; resumed role as Deputy Governor on 12 November, 2025.\n\n- Closing remarks\n  - Hideaki Imamura — Senior Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs (since July 2025)\n    - Responsible for multilateral policy coordination including G20, G7 and the IMF and bilateral cooperation with advanced economies.\n    - Joined Japan Ministry of Finance in 1993; former Executive Director for Japan at the World Bank Group.\n    - Holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Arts in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan (1997)."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Agenda and timing",
      "content": "- 10:00 AM — Welcome & Introduction; Takashi Nagaoka, Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, IMF\n- 10:05 AM — Central Bank Digital Currency: Further Navigating Challenges and Opportunities\n  - Speaker: Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, Assistant Director, Monetary Capital Market Department, IMF; Presentation\n  - Discussants: Mamerto E. Tangonan, Deputy Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Online); Presentation; Shigeru Shimizu, Deputy Director-General of Payment and Settlement Department, Bank of Japan\n  - Session notes: Introduction of six new chapters on CBDC focusing on financial stability, payments competition, financial integrity, legal considerations, tokenized reserves, and payment resilience in fragile and conflict-affected states.\n- 11:00 AM — New Frontiers in Cross-Border Payments and Implications for Asia-Pacific\n  - Speaker: Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and Director, Monetary Capital Market Department, IMF; Presentation\n  - Discussants: Elizabeth Genia, Governor, Bank of Papua New Guinea; Esala Masitabua, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Fiji; Presentation\n  - Session notes: Advances in stablecoins and tokenization may enhance efficiency of cross-border payments and remittances while posing regulatory and financial stability challenges; focus on translating global innovations into practical regional solutions, with attention to PICs.\n- 11:55 AM — Closing remarks; Hideaki Imamura, Senior Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Japan"
    }
  ],
  "bullets": [
    "The landscape of digital money and payments has undergone significant transformation driven by technological advances and evolving financial needs.",
    "Recent developments in crypto assets, including stablecoins, and progress in tokenization offer potential benefits while also posing risks to financial stability.",
    "Technological innovation is likely to accelerate further in the coming years and result in new digital solutions for payments and financial intermediation.",
    "There is a growing recognition of the importance of a reference guide and technical assistance to help countries develop sound policy frameworks for digital money and payments.",
    "The seminar focused on Asia-Pacific region issues, with particular attention to Pacific Islands Countries (PICs).",
    "Hosted by the IMF's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (OAP).",
    "Organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, Japan, and the Bank of Japan.",
    "The IMF’s CBDC Virtual Handbook, supported by the Government of Japan, is presented as a reference guide and a “living” document for policymakers and experts.",
    "Introduce six new chapters on CBDC providing insights on:",
    "Highlight developments in cross-border payments and implications for the Asia-Pacific region.",
    "Explore how global innovations (stablecoins, tokenization) can be translated into practical solutions addressing regional needs and challenges in PICs.",
    "Signal the IMF’s ramping up of technical assistance to emerging and developing countries.",
    "There will be no specific Q&A sessions during the seminar.",
    "Two sessions featuring IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department speakers and discussants from public sector authorities in Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries.",
    "Takashi Nagaoka — Moderator",
    "Session 1 speakers and discussants",
    "Session 2 speakers and discussants",
    "Closing remarks",
    "10:00 AM — Welcome & Introduction; Takashi Nagaoka, Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, IMF",
    "10:05 AM — Central Bank Digital Currency: Further Navigating Challenges and Opportunities",
    "11:00 AM — New Frontiers in Cross-Border Payments and Implications for Asia-Pacific",
    "11:55 AM — Closing remarks; Hideaki Imamura, Senior Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Japan",
    "**Session1 Slide for Imf Seminar on Digital Money and Payments in Transition Dgmet**",
    "**Fiji’s Digital Money & Payments – Current Situation & Challenges**",
    "**CBDC: Further Navigating Challenges and Opportunities**",
    "**New Frontiers in Cross-Border Payments and Implications for Asia–Pacific**"
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