Call for Evidence

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, chaired by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, is launching an inquiry on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

HM Treasury and the Bank of England are exploring the potential of a possible CBDC for the UK. The Committee will take evidence on the main issues confronting HM Treasury and the Bank as they conduct this work. It will also examine how a CBDC might affect the role of the Bank, monetary policy and the financial sector.

The Committee is seeking evidence on the following questions:

1. What are the main issues driving central banks to explore CBDCs?

2. What are the main benefits and risks of a CBDC?

3. Could the proposed benefits of a CBDC be achieved through improvements to existing payment systems?

4. How should the Bank of England and HM Treasury address concerns over privacy and traceability of payments when exploring CBDC design?

5. What effects might a CBDC have on the financial sector?

6. What effect might a CBDC have on competition and innovation in the payments and fintech sectors?

7. How might a CBDC affect monetary policy?

8. How might a CBDC change the Bank of England’s role and responsibilities?

9. How should HM Treasury and the Bank of England engage with the public on the research and development of a CBDC?

10. How might CBDCs affect the economic foreign policies or geopolitical influence of different countries and economic areas? Are there implications for the effectiveness of economic sanctions?

This is a public call for written evidence to be submitted to the Committee. 

The Committee is looking to hear from as diverse a range of views as possible—if you think someone you know would have an interest in contributing to the inquiry, please pass this on to them.

Short, concise submissions are preferred. Responses should not be longer than five sides of A4. The Committee cannot accept anything that has not been prepared specifically in response to this call for evidence, or that has been published elsewhere.

Guidance for submissions

Written submissions should be submitted as a Word document by email to economicaffairs@parliament.uk

Short submissions are preferred. Paragraphs should be numbered. All submissions made through the written submission form will be acknowledged automatically by email.

Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. Submissions which have been previously published elsewhere will not be accepted as evidence.

Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been accepted you will receive a further email, and at this point you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege.

Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication but will be retained by the Committee Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information.

Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public at Westminster and broadcast online; transcripts are produced and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed.

Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed through the Clerk of the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.

This is a public call for evidence. Please bring it to the attention of other groups and individuals who may not have received a copy directly.

You may follow the progress of the inquiry at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1504/central-bank-digital-currencies/