FinTech Week: heads of Standard Chartered, Citi, JPMorgan Hong Kong to join John Lee, regulators for largest-ever event
- Fintech is ‘entering a new era’ where the focus is on ‘real-life application’, says Joseph Chan, acting secretary for financial services and the treasury
- The flagship event, backed by the government, takes place from October 30 to November 5 with the theme ‘Fintech Redefined’
Hong Kong’s five-day FinTech Week is set to attract more than 30,000 attendees, government officials, regulators and the heads of major banks to explore the future of the financial-services industry as fintech innovations make their way into real-world use on a broad scale.
The flagship event, backed by Invest Hong Kong, takes place from October 30 to November 5 with the theme “Fintech Redefined”. Organisers have doubled the floor space for this eighth edition of the event to accommodate 540 exhibitors. More than 300 speakers are expected to take part in the event’s two-day conference on November 2 and 3 at the Hong Kong Convention Exhibition Centre.
“Hong Kong’s fintech industry is entering a new era, where it is no longer solely about technology, but also its real-life application,” Joseph Chan Ho-lim, undersecretary for financial services and the treasury, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We are excited to witness this transformation and its impact on the financial ecosystem.”
Major bank heads on the speaker list include Aveline San, CEO of Citi Hong Kong and Macau; Bill Winters, group CEO of Standard Chartered; and Harshika Patel, CEO of JPMorgan Hong Kong.
The conference will touch on six key themes: global regulations and sustainable finance; venture capital and family office investments; artificial intelligence; Web3 technology; the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area; and Hong Kong’s innovation journey.
“As a global bank, with a lot of focus in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and Asia, we believe that fintech adoption is essential to the sustainable growth of the entire financial industry,” Saurabh Mundhra, from treasury and trade solutions at Citi Hong Kong, a diamond sponsor for the event, said at the press conference.
Fostering partnerships between banks and fintech companies leads to accelerated development of new capabilities and solutions, which caters to client needs, Mundhra added.
FinTech Week is scheduled back-to-back with the HKMA’s Global Financial Leader’s Investment Summit the following week.
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“I really look forward to what’s to come in this year’s FinTech week,” Bojan Obradovic, chief digital officer at HSBC, the event’s title sponsor, said at the press briefing. “Fintechs are innovating and coming up with new products and services at scale, and as a bank we want to tap into that innovation.”
HSBC’s Asia Pacific co-CEO Surendra Rosha and Hong Kong CEO Luanne Lim will also be speakers this year.
Tencent corporate vice-president Forest Lin will join a panel discussion on building the next generation of cross-border payments during the conference. Gobi Partners GBA managing partner Chibo Tang will join Simon Loong, founder and group CEO of WeLab, and Thomas Elliott, head of client coverage at HSBC, on a panel about early-stage investment in start-ups.
“Hong Kong FinTech Week is all about unprecedented business opportunities, and really unparalleled networking,” said Karena Belin, co-founder and CEO of WHub, the event’s appointed organiser.
FinTech Week organisers said they expect attendees from more than 90 countries and regions.
Tickets for FinTech Week are on sale for US$599 for in-person attendees and US$100 for online attendees.
