ZIG Finance launches Saudi SME credit vault with Nomura’s Laser Digital

ZIG Finance has launched the zEMS Vault, a tokenized product that gives institutional investors access to a diversified pool of Saudi SME private credit. It is the first deliverable from its strategic partnership with Laser Digital, the digital assets subsidiary of Nomura.

KAIO tokenizes the Vault, and it is issued on BNB Chain. Laser Digital serves as Risk Framework Advisor. It supports the design of the Vault’s risk governance framework and provides tokenization advisory.

The launch positions ZIG Finance at the forefront of one of the most closely watched themes in digital assets. That theme is bringing real-world private credit onchain in a form that institutional investors can actually sign off on.

Bringing discipline to an asset class institutions have struggled to reach

Concerns over underwriting standards, portfolio construction and risk oversight have limited access to emerging-market private credit at institutional scale. ZIG Finance’s approach with zEMS is to package those disciplines into a single structure.

Beehive originates the Vault’s underlying credit. It is the first peer-to-peer lending platform in the MENA region to be regulated by the DFSA, and it brings more than a decade of SME lending experience across the GCC. Zamanat acts as structuring partner and Sharia advisor, while ZIG Markets handles product issuance, curation and distribution. Khalij is expected to join as Sharia certification partner, and an independent calculation agent will be appointed separately.

“Saudi Arabia has a deep and growing SME lending market, but accessing that opportunity at institutional scale requires a different level of discipline around how credit risk is selected, structured and managed,” said Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of ZIG Finance. “The aim isn’t to remove credit risk. It’s to make that risk transparent and manageable, so institutional investors can get comfortable with an asset class they may not otherwise be able to access at scale.”

Gadit added that ZIG Finance sees the Vault as a way to open a deeper pool of institutional capital to Saudi private credit. It could also extend the model across other emerging markets.

Laser Digital’s role

Laser Digital’s involvement gives the launch notable institutional weight. The firm, regulated by VARA and ADGM’s FSRA, first backed ZIG Finance’s onchain private credit push earlier this year. The zEMS Vault is the first concrete product to emerge from that relationship.

“Saudi SME lending is one part of a much larger GCC private credit opportunity that onchain markets can tap into,” said Dr. Jez Mohideen, Co-founder and CEO of Laser Digital. “Building that structure requires frameworks that institutions can trust and sign off on, and that is where we have focused through our partnership with ZIG Finance.”

Mohideen described the launch as an early test of whether private credit can be brought onchain in a form institutions can approve.

Compliance built in from day one

On the infrastructure side, KAIO, the tokenization platform developed by Laser Digital and WebN, manages compliance and the full lifecycle of the Vault. That includes KYC enforcement at both subscription and redemption. KAIO already hosts tokenized funds from institutions including BlackRock, Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane, and has processed more than $500 million in volume.

“KAIO provides the infrastructure to bring this Vault onchain, with compliance and lifecycle management built in from subscription through to redemption,” said Shrey Rastogi, CEO of KAIO. “Together with ZIG Finance and Laser Digital, we are establishing a repeatable model for bringing new markets and credit strategies onchain.”

For Zamanat, the Vault is also about real-economy impact.

“Saudi Arabia’s ambitions for its private sector depend on growing businesses having access to the capital they need,” said Umair Tariq, CEO of Zamanat. “Our ambition is to make this a repeatable source of financing for Saudi businesses and an established part of global private credit portfolios.”

A template for what comes next

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the launch is what it signals for ZIG Finance’s broader strategy. The zEMS structure combines local credit origination, institutional risk governance, compliant tokenization and onchain distribution. ZIG Finance designed it to be repeatable across additional markets and credit strategies.

ZIG Finance says further products are already in the pipeline, with opportunities across the region and other asset classes under consideration. The launch adds to the company’s growing roster of institutional investment products. It reinforces its ambition, spanning ZIG Chain and ZIG Markets, to bring capital markets onchain.

The zEMS Vault is available only to eligible institutional investors in selected eligible jurisdictions. It does not guarantee returns, is not principal-protected, and does not confer direct ownership of the underlying assets. Credit risk remains tied to the underlying SME borrowers.

Laser Digital has not assessed or rated any underlying loan or borrower, and responsibility for credit selection and risk management rests with ZIG Finance and the originator.