In this episode of FRT, Jesse McWaters, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Regulatory Advocacy at Mastercard, and former Financial Innovation Lead at the World Economic Forum, gives us a look into the 2023 WEF Annual Meeting and emerging digital trends on the horizon. In its first winter being held in Davos since the start of COVID-19, Jesse discusses this year’s Annual Meeting theme, “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”.

As noted on the WEF Annual Meeting website, “The world today is at a critical inflection point. The sheer number of ongoing crises calls for bold collection action”. Jesse expands on themes likely to dominate dialogue at this year’s meeting, with the backdrop of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the risk of global recession. What does “bold collection action” mean in tangible terms? How should nations, industries, and individuals be taking action?

Beyond Davos, Jesse discusses how he sees development proceeding in central bank digital currency and, broadly, regulation affecting privately-issued digital currencies in the wake of turbulent months for the crypto market. He addresses trends in data localization and their impact on the financial system’s effectiveness in a world requiring increasing degrees of digital economic cooperation, and next steps for advancing the G20 payments roadmap.