Prof. Doug Arner of Hong Kong University takes us through the experiences with China’s FinTech platforms, including the rise of Ant Financial and subsequent regulatory responses. He emphasizes the key role that data had played throughout this journey, and we discuss the innovative approaches that have been deployed to encourage funding for SMEs

Doug highlights some of the key learnings for the rest of the world, for policymakers and for incumbent financial firms alike, and we discuss how banks and insurers each need to find their own space in an economy where platforms are increasingly dominant. We also discuss some of the key developments and issues in RegTech, Cloud and Open Banking.