Hong Kong Fintech Week is right around the corner, and apparently, Hong Kong will be taking things all the way up to 11.
After wowing an over 4,000-strong crowd of international investors, regulators, and fintech enthusiasts in Hong Kong last year, Hong Kong Fintech Week is set to outdo itself this year by becoming the world’s first cross-border fintech event.
After four days of packed demos, panels, workshops, and networking in Hong Kong, the event will move across the border for the Shenzhen Fintech Day. The day comprises of a networking lunch with government officials, senior company executives, venture investors and fintech founders, followed by visits to the WeBank, Tencent, and ZhongAn headquarters. Fintech companies looking for opportunities in the mainland will also be invited to demo and pitch during this part of the week, which also features discussions and presentations from regulators and organizations from Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Mr Nelson Chow, Chief Fintech Officer of the HKMA, said “This is the third year that we co-organise the Hong Kong Fintech Week with InvestHK and we are glad to see that it is expanding into Shenzhen. We believe that this cross-border event will become a powerful conduit to foster development and application of fintech in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and at the same time strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a springboard for Mainland fintech firms to go global, and global fintech firms to enter the Mainland market.”
Another addition to the event is the Fast Track Program which is held in partnership with InvestHK. The program aims to help start-ups from all over the world overcome the challenges in doing business in Hong Kong. More than 10 companies will be chosen to take part in the program.
Much like last year, Blockchain, Insurtech, Wealthtech, Cybersecurity, and China fintech remain key themes of the week, though the organizers have casted their nets wider this year to also tackle Virtual Banks, Artificial Intelligence, RegTech, and Payments, among others.
Karen Contet Farzam, co-founder of WHub, calls the Hong Kong Fintech Week “the best way to discover and get inspired by FinTech latest developments and how it impacts the future,” adding that “with WHub’s white paper on Hong Kong’s FinTech ecosystem,” one can “find how Hong Kong is evolving from an International Financial Centre to a key FinTech Hub.”
Meanwhile, Greg Palmer, VP of Finovate, said that “we’re very excited to be kicking off Hong Kong Fintech Week.” “There are amazing things happening in fintech all across Asia, and Hong Kong is a lightning rod for innovators, financial industry influencers, and anyone who is interested in the future of money. The whole week promises to be full of great content, and FinovateAsia is going to be kicking things off with a bang.”
Henri Arslanian, chairman of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, akins the week to the “Superbowl of fintech!” Continuing that if anyone wants to “learn more about the latest fintech developments in Asia and their impact globally,” this is their opportunity.
Speakers this year will include:
- Paul Chan, Financial Secretary, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
- Norman Chan, Chief Executive, The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)
- Ashley Ian Alder, JP, Chief Executive Officer, The Securities and Futures Commission
- Charles Li, Executive Director and Chief Executive, HXEX
- Eric Jing, CEO, Ant Financial
- Jessica Tan, Executive VP, CIO, and COO, Ping An Group
- Jim Lai, Vice President and Head of Fintech, Tencent
- Benjamin Hung, CEO for Greater China and North Asia, Standard Chartered
- Greg Gibb, Co-chairman and CEO, Lufax
- Zhaoli Meng, Dean of JD Fintech Research Institute, JD
- Jonathan Larsen, CEO, Ping An Global Voyager Fund
- Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO, Go-Pay
- Reuben Lai, Managing Director, Grab Financial
- Wayne Xu, President, ZhongAn International
- Mellisa Guzy, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Arbor Ventures
Watch presentations from the 2017 Hong Kong Fintech Week on NexChange, here.