R3 has joined MENAT banking group Emirates NBD as a key council member of the Digital Asset Lab.
The financial services firm will join the likes of PwC and Fireblocks to utilise its Corda tokenisation platform to develop modelling capabilities and a multi-party workflow engine to scale and grow the digital asset sector in the Middle East.
With the new addition to the Digital Asset Lab, Emirates NBD is strengthening the new collaborative ecosystem by leveraging R3’s regulated markets expertise to drive transformative advancements in digital assets, currencies and banking services.
Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer at Emirates NBD, commented: “We are pleased to welcome R3, a technology pioneer, to the Digital Asset Lab. The platform is significant to Emirates NBD’s innovation strategy as it serves as a testing ground for new financial technologies and digital assets.
“As a digital banking leader, the Lab demonstrates Emirates NBD’s commitment to stay at the forefront of innovation in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
“Digital Asset Lab is set to significantly enhance our understanding of current and emerging technologies, along with their associated risks and benefits. This valuable insight will enable us to adapt and integrate these advancements into our services effectively and securely.”
The Digital Asset Lab was announced in May 2023 at the Dubai FinTech Summit, with the goal of enabling and accelerating digital asset and financial services innovation in the UAE.
As a national banking champion in the UAE, Emirates NBD is establishing a robust platform with industry experts for the development of innovative ideas in financial services using digital assets and its underlying technologies.
The lab focuses on digital assets and how underlying technologies can be leveraged to enable customers to effectively manage financial services requirements in the evolving and dynamic sector.
David Rutter, Chief Executive Officer at R3, added: “R3 is delighted to be partnering with Emirates NBD by participating in its new Digital Asset Lab. The region continues to go from strength to strength in global financial innovation,and the creation of the Lab marks another significant milestone in the growth of its burgeoning FinTech sector.”
“As Lab partners, we are excited to support Emirates NBDin the development and testing of transformative technologies. Our efforts will contribute to vital initiatives centred around asset tokenisation, distributed ledger technology, and digital transformation in regulated financial markets.”
