Bob Diamond, CEO of Atlas Merchant Capital and former top boss at Barclays, said there are multiple opportunities for tokenization, digitization and blockchain adoption in the Middle East, particularly in the banking sector. “There is no better place than this center to have a second center for the trading of tokenized assets for the financial services industry, particularly banks in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, to really use blockchain as a foundational technology for financial institutions,” Diamond said on CNBC’s “Access Middle East.” Diamond said banks in the Middle East have an advantage because they have fewer concerns about legacy systems and are more agile. Diamond said digital platforms that offer 24/7 trading, instant settlement, auditable records and lower costs compared to traditional exchanges could add depth to capital markets, especially as large private companies such as SpaceX move toward IPOs. “One of the real advantages of Abu Dhabi is that we are attracting a lot of tokenization efforts here, but we also have a very strong regulatory environment and a very strong infrastructure, as well as the ability to attract talent, the ability to attract capital, so we will continue to see development,” he said. Tokenized finance refers to the use of blockchain-style technology to represent financial assets as digital tokens. Diamond also cited tailwinds from deregulation by government agencies and sees growing resilience among U.S. companies, particularly middle-market companies. “U.S. companies have performed very well in this environment, and I think a lot of the reason for that is because we’ve removed regulations that are a barrier to really having an opportunity to drive enforcement,” Diamond said, adding support from the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “One of the things that has always impressed me about the United States, in terms of how the economy has remained strong even in volatile times, is the depth of our capital markets,” Diamond said.
