The FinTech Association of Hong Kong, which officially launched last night, “wants to be the umbrella for Hong Kong’s fintech society”, according to Marc Entwistle, a board member of the association and a founding member of EY’s global fintech team.
Board members of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong
The association – which has a temporary board consisting of 10 members from banks, consultancies and fintech startups – launched after a year of preparations, including dialogues with local regulators and input from financial institutions.
“We look forward to working with the entire ecosystem, from start-ups and financial institutions to regulators and government, to drive fintech forward not only in Hong Kong but also globally,” said Henri Arslanian, a board member and fintech and regtech leader at PwC.
Arslanian said that formulating responses to regulators’ consultation papers and setting up internship programmes would be on the association’s ‘to-do list’. “Our goal is to avoid being a talking shop,” he said.
The association has three main goals: to advocate Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem, to collaborate with different parts of the fintech community, and to educate and nurture the next generation of fintech talents.
Matt Dooley, founder of strategic advisory firm Connected Thinking, said at the launch event that when talking about fintech development, “people always ask Hong Kong or Singapore? I would say Hong Kong and Singapore, and every jurisdiction has their part to play”.
Singapore’s fintech association was launched in November last year.
The non-profit association is member-driven, with 12 committees focusing on various topics: AI, big data, blockchain, design and experience, digital banking, financial literacy and inclusion, insurtech, payments, policy and advocacy, wealthtech, regtech and talent and diversity.
According to Maaike Steinebach, another board member and Hong Kong MD at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, committees were formed based on the industry’s interest areas.
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