UAE SCA and Ministry of Economy Partner with AFCM for KYC Blockchain megathon

The Arab Federation of Capital Markets in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Economy and UAE Securities and Commodities Authority has launched the SCA Fintech Megathon to choose a KYC Blockchain Solution for DLT. The megathon is being organized by MENA based Fintech galaxy.

The Arab Federation of Capital Markets was established in June 1978 to be the guiding body for the Arab stock exchanges, under the recommendation of the Arab Central Banks Conference, held under the auspices of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The AFCM is the Arab industry group for 17 exchanges and 3 Clearing houses (CSD’s), and multiple of affiliate members (financial institutions, brokerage firms) from all around the Arab regions (GCC, Levant and Arab African countries). The Federation was set up to contribute to the “development of regulations and promoting harmonized and proactive legislations, and exchanging viewpoints and providing opportunities for cooperation among members.

As per the Fintech Megathon the use case is KYC Blockchain For DLT. As per the announcement on Fintech Galaxy, ” The use case covers “KYC Blockchain” systems which enable transparency and immutability that, in turn, allows financial institutions to validate the trustworthiness of data present in the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform. The decentralized KYC platform is a process that acts as a streamlined way for gaining secure and swift access to up-to-date user data for investments into securities.”

The needed solution should entail the utilization of Blockchain to for an accumulation of data from multiple authoritative service providers into one single, cryptographically secured database. KYC verification through this type of architecture has the ability to be faster, more secure and more efficient than current verification procedures.

The description adds, this in turn should hopefully gain the trust of the general public. By introducing blockchain solutions to handle the KYC process, data will be available on a decentralized network and can therefore be accessed by third parties directly after permission has been given. This KYC system will also offer better data security by ensuring that data access is only made after confirmation or permission is received from the relevant authority, eliminating the chance of unauthorized access. Government bodies also aim to benefit from the adoption of the blockchain as risk officers will have better access to data, making the relationship between the financial sectors and regulators more transparent. This provides the provision for a massive reduction in financial fraud and crimes in the long term.

Interested companies are asked to connect to Fintech Galaxy sandbox or send in a solution. The reward is a Proof of Concept with institutions in two different Arab countries.