The legislative authorities in Saudi Arabia have appointed a digital asset manager and digital currency program, in a move that reflects the Kingdom’s future ambitions in this sector, according to the agency.BloombergAbout people familiar with the matter.
The agency indicated that the Kingdom has appointed Mohsen Al-Zahrani, the former executive director of the consulting company “Accenture”, and that he will work under the management of Ziad Al-Youssef, Deputy Governor of the Saudi Central Bank for Development and Technology.
Bloomberg reported, citing its sources, that Al-Zahrani and Al-Yousef are part of a team in Riyadh that is working in cooperation with the largest crypto companies in the world to enact legislation for the future.
The people, who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, noted that Saudi Arabia has taken “more careful” steps with regard to digital assets, with officials raising concerns regarding their conflicting nature.
But the UAE’s emergence as a global hub for cryptocurrency prompted an “urgent need” for Riyadh to draft formal laws for classifying digital assets, the people told the agency.
Representatives of the Saudi central bank did not respond to a Bloomberg request for comment.
And the kingdom began trying to raise the presence of international companies in Riyadh, as part of the vision of the Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to transform the capital into a center for global trade, which is a “direct challenge to the Gulf neighbor, Dubai,” according to the agency.
The Kingdom is the largest economy in the Middle East, with a share of a relatively good living situation, which makes it an essential market for any company operating in the region, according to Bloomberg.
Indeed, companies such as Babance Holdings have tended to increase the number of members of their Saudi teams, to have the opportunity to enter a new market if the current measures are relaxed.
In 2018, Riyadh banned banks from dealing with financial transactions that use cryptocurrencies, but there are ways to trade in which sanctions may be avoided for trading in them, and Bloomberg sources reported that some local financial companies have re-implemented the restrictions imposed with their customers over the past months.
At the same time, the agency stated that the Saudi government began cooperating several years ago with the UAE to work on providing a common cryptocurrency.
