15 Sep, 2017
Jeddah- 17 October 2017: The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, signed an agreement with Ateon to build a block-chain based product that can potentially be used to support development and financial inclusion in IDB member countries.
Ateon, a member of Alhamrani Group of Companies in Saudi Arabia, will work on this project in partnership with Settlemint, a Belgium-based software company with extensive experience in designing blockchain applications for financial institutions.
The three parties will be working on a first-of-its-kind use case using blockchain’s smart contracts to crate Sharia’a complaint financial products to support the development of IDB member countries.
At this stage, the agreement focuses on the technical feasibility study of the product, followed by the analysis of the economic effects in preparation for the actual application of the product.
One of the advantages of block chain transaction systems is the instantaneous clearing and settlement of transactions and asset exchanges, and this mitigates considerable operational risks arising from clearing settlements, and in many cases, eliminates counterparty risk. It also allows accurate monitoring of all processes, ensuring their integrity and achieving the purpose for which they are designed, thus opening up opportunities that were not previously available, and allowing the application of economic and social policies with a high degree of efficiency and transparency.
