Orient Magazine Issue 69 - November 2018 | Page 29
UK Department for International Trade
FinTech Mission, November 2018
Collaboration is essential to the growth of global
FinTech. The language of ‘competition’ and
‘disruption’ must give way to a vision of partnership
and integration. Whether large or small, Financial
Institutions (FIs) around the world are looking
to FinTech to improve customer service, realise
efficiencies in daily operations, fulfil their regulatory
duties and improve the utilisation of data. Though
there is no one-size-fits-all model, collaboration
between FinTech and FIs is leading to a gradual
democratisation of financial services: empowering
greater levels of participation through financial
inclusion, improving user understanding, and
increasing the options available to consumers, as
well as their power to choose between them.
Regulators, too, are embracing the need for greater
collaboration. The recent announcement of the
Global Financial Innovation Network – signed by 12
global regulators, including the Monetary Authority
of Singapore – will increase collaboration between
regulators on common challenges and questions
of policy. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, as
with many of its counterparts, is forging cooperation
agreements with regulatory agencies in other
jurisdiction (10, at the latest count), creating a clear
framework for knowledge sharing and improved
engagement. For FinTechs, closer alignment of
procedures and policy will mean less duplicated
compliance work and more freedom of movement
between markets.
At the UK’s Department for International Trade,
we understand the need for global collaboration.
Technology crosses borders and so, therefore, should
we. During this year’s MAS FinTech Festival, we will be
hosting 12 of the UK’s preeminent FinTech companies
– a showcase of innovation and excellence, epitomising
Britain’s world-class finance offer and demonstrating
why there is a global demand for British expertise.
These are companies seeking to collaborate, pursuing
new partnerships and deals which will simplify internal
processes and improve customer service.
Of equal importance is the behind the scenes work
that the UK government undertakes to supporting
the sector. Our ‘FinTech Bridge’ policy, the first of its
kind, works to reduce trade barriers and facilitate
greater cross-border activity in the sector. We’ve
built 5 Bridges to-date – with Singapore, Hong Kong,
Australia, China and South Korea – designed to foster
greater links between government and industry in
respective markets. There is still work to be done, but
these Bridges set out our aspiration for international
collaboration and provide a framework on which we
can bring ecosystems together.
In the spirit of collaboration, I welcome you to come
and visit our UK pavilion during the MAS FinTech
Festival – to spend time with the team, with our
companies, and with the wider ecosystem at large.
We’re excited to find new partners to work with
and explore synergies that can lead to the global
growth of this sector. We’re excited to share the UK’s
expertise in financial services with the world. We’re
excited to collaborate.
Tom Helm is the Head of FinTech at the Department
for International Trade. His goal is to support the
global growth of UK FinTechs and create a domestic
ecosystem where the world’s best FinTechs can
flourish; an ecosystem worthy of its title as the
global capital of FinTech. He is also responsible for
supporting overseas FinTechs to set up and grow
in the UK and is the Department’s lead for FinTech
Bridge policy.
Tomas Helm
Head of FinTech (London)
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.great.gov.uk