3주차｜핀테크_이지수_ The financial stability implications of AI and digital finance

[이지수]

The financial stability implications of artificial intelligence and digital finance

Speaker: Tao Zhang, BIS Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific

Date: 26 January 2026

Event: International Financial Week, in conjunction with the Asian Financial Forum (AFF)

Word count: 314

https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp260126.htm

Glossary

1. Tokenisation: 토큰화

2. credit underwriting: 신용 심사

3. distributed ledger technology: 분산원장기술

4. reconciliation costs: 조정 비용

Script

Today, I would like to focus on the financial stability implications, including tokenisation, which is a central element in current policy discussions.

Let me begin with how AI and digital finance are developing, and why they are attracting such attention from policymakers.

AI is being adopted across the financial sector for a wide range of purposes.

Financial institutions use AI to process large volumes of data, support credit underwriting, detect fraud, manage risks and automate back-office functions.

More recently, advances in large language models and generative AI have expanded the range of possible applications, including customer interaction, internal analysis and supervisory processes.

The drivers of AI adoption are well understood.

On the supply side, rapid advances in computing power, data availability and model capabilities have lowered barriers to entry.

On the demand side, firms are seeking productivity gains, cost reductions and competitive advantages, while authorities are exploring the use of AI to enhance regulatory and supervisory effectiveness.

Digital finance, more broadly, refers to the increasing digitalisation of financial assets, processes and infrastructures.

A key component of this is tokenisation which, loosely speaking, is the representation of financial assets, such as securities or deposits, in digital form using technologies such as distributed ledger technology.

As we have already witnessed, tokenisation affects how financial transactions are organised and executed.

It can bring trading, settlement and collateral management closer together, reduce reconciliation costs and support more efficient use of liquidity and collateral.

Tokenisation may also reduce frictions in cross-border payments and securities settlement – an issue of particular relevance for regions with deep trade and financial linkages, including Asia.

Taken together, AI and digital finance can improve efficiency, reduce costs and support more integrated financial markets.

However, these same developments also change the way risks arise and propagate across the financial system, and they post challenges for regulators and supervisors.

In short, they have strong financial stability implications.