The central bank of Italy, Banca d'Italia, announced on December 5 via official channels that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the central bank of South Korea, the Bank of Korea, on payment systems and IT.

Regarding information and communication technology (ICT) matters, the memorandum of understanding calls for the "mutual sharing of knowledge and information," according to the Italian central bank.

It specifically addresses ICT problems with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and real-time settlement systems.

According to the announcement, Luigi Federico Signorini, general manager of the Banca d'Italia, attended the meeting and approved the agreement.

Both nations have been investigating CBDCs for the past year, albeit in somewhat different ways.

Unlike other European countries, Italy's central bank has prioritized interoperability over a wholesale CBDC approach when it comes to its solutions for settling distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based transactions via hash-linked contracts.

Meanwhile, in October, South Korea began testing its CBDC infrastructure technology. Both public and private banks are participating in its pilot program, and the Bank for International Settlements is providing technical support.

South Korea declared in November that it would allow 100,000 people to test its CBDC starting in 2024.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/italy-south-korea-central-banks-cbdc-cooperation

https://www.bancaditalia.it/media/notizia/protocollo-d-intesa-tra-la-banca-d-italia-e-la-bank-of-korea-in-materia-di-it-e-sistemi-di-pagamento/