State Street: Saudi Arabia can develop digital finance — Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia has a unique opportunity to create modern digital financial infrastructure within the Vision 2030 program, believes Angus Fletcher, head of digital solutions at State Street. He said this in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat.
According to Fletcher, digital assets are gradually moving from blockchain experiments to institutional use. Financial institutions are increasingly considering asset tokenization as a tool for developing capital markets, investment and settlement processes, liquidity management, and cross-border operations.
Tokenization and digital money
The State Street representative said that tokenization is not an end in itself, but can become a catalyst for modernizing financial market infrastructure. In his view, its practical value lies in improving settlements, collateral management, asset allocation, and liquidity.
In his assessment, tokenized money market funds, government securities, and private assets could see the widest adoption in the coming years. Digital money, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits, could combine the movement of assets, funds, and data into a more integrated system than the current financial system.
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Fletcher added that such instruments could potentially increase the efficiency of cross-border investment flows, reduce the amount of locked liquidity, and improve the movement of collateral between markets.
The role of artificial intelligence and regulation
According to Fletcher, artificial intelligence will play an increasingly prominent role in liquidity management, settlement and funding decisions, as well as risk monitoring. It can also help automate data reconciliation, optimize operational processes, and strengthen compliance with regulatory requirements.
At the same time, the industry needs more aligned regulatory rules, interoperability between different market infrastructures, and operating models suitable for large-scale institutional use of digital assets. Fletcher stressed that financial institutions are not seeking weaker regulation, but clear rules that provide legal certainty, investor protection, and operational flexibility.
He identified three basic layers of future digital infrastructure: digital money for settlements; systems for identification, governance, cybersecurity, and operational resilience; and an intelligent layer using AI. For Saudi Arabia, he named the tokenization of investment funds and private markets, the development of digital money, and improved collateral mobility and cross-border investment flows as promising areas.
