UK Fintech Awards select trading simulator, artwork registry as competition winners

A Hong Kong-based trading simulator and a mainland Chinese security company’s project using the distributed ledger technology blockchain to register and trade artworks have won a UK government competition to promote international financial technology (fintech) collaboration.

EquitySim and Shenzhen-listed security card manufacturer Hengbao were winners of the UK Fintech Awards 2016, presented by the Department for International Trade, formerly UK Trade and Investment.

“Something we want to support on a global scale is driving markets to be more innovative. Hong Kong and the UK, because of their natural status as fintech hubs, can support and develop each other,” said Andy Burwell, director of inward investment for the Department of International Trade in Hong Kong.

Burwell said the UK’s existing links with Hong Kong, such as the large number of British corporations in the city, make it possible for a stronger fintech relationship as technologies can be applied between the two locations.

The two winners will receive a five-day trip to the UK, training on information technology and tickets to Fintech Connect Live in London.

EquitySim, which moved its head office to Hong Kong three months ago, gives aspiring traders US$100 million to invest in its simulator and asks for a one-line explanation on why they made each trade. Their investments are then tracked and assessed.