EBRD Forum in London

October 24: Fintech (R)evolution — the good, the bad and the opportunities that lie ahead

Tadej Slapnik, Tolar HashNET Director, has attended the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)Forum: Fintech (R)evolution — the good the bad and the opportunities that lie ahead. The event was held in London last week.

This EBRD event consisted of four workshops which brought together FinTech experts from the public and private sectors, and tackled some of the most important issues in FinTech including the regulation of crowdfunding platforms, the development of smart contracts, the potential for FinTech to accelerate development in emerging markets and the role that international development organisations can play.

Tadej Slapnik, as a representative of European Blockchain Hub, has participated as a speaker in the panel Ahead of the curve: FinTech developments in emerging markets with the following panelists:

• Ahmad Aweidah, Chief Executive Officer, Palestine Exchange, Palestine
• Magda Borowik, Transaction Technology Expert, Ministry of Digital Affairs, Poland
• Assylbek Davletov, Chief FinTech Officer, Astana Financial Services Authority, Kazakhstan
• Elene Grigolia, Project Manager, National Agency of Public Registry, Georgia
• Ivan Zhiznevsky, Deputy Director, High Tech Park, Belarus
• Aija Zitcere, Director of Financial Market Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Latvia
• Moderator: Ines Rocha, Director, Financial Products, SME Finance & Development, EBRD

FinTech is not just about high-end technologies for advanced financial services, nor is it the exclusive preserve of developed jurisdictions. Financial innovation has been transformative in emerging markets and, in many cases, FinTech has the potential to help developing countries leapfrog the more developed economies. This workshop has looked into some of the ongoing FinTech initiatives, trends, lessons learned and future opportunities in emerging markets.