Hong Kong Fintech Week 2020 got off to a confident start with a welcome speech from Financial Secretary Paul Chan who pointed out that in the first seven months of 2020, more than 20 Hong Kong-based start-ups raised nearly US$500m in venture funding.
The backdrop is Hong Kong’s ranking by the 2020 FM Global Resilience Index as Asia's most resilient economy, added to which, according to IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, Hong Kong is the number two among Asian economies.
As for newcomers, he highlighted eight virtual banks and four virtual insurers, as well as a virtual asset trading company. These have been authorised, or granted in-principle agreement, to operate in Hong Kong.
Also named as one of the leading accelerators in the city by Chan is the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific. Facilitated by Accenture, it’s a 12-week mentoring accelerator and incubator programme which brings together leading financial services institutions, angel investors and venture capital firms to provide start ups with the opportunity to work with future customers, perfect propositions, gain insights to the banking industry and build strong relationships.
Railsbank’s co-founder and CEO, Nigel Verdon, who is a mentor at the Fintech Innovation Lab, also took part in one of the week’s main panels. He joined Claire Calmejane, Chief Innovation Officer at Societe Generale and Jeff Tijssen, Global Head of Consulting at 11FS to talk about the European banking model, the impact of Covid-19 and digital currencies.
Hong Kong Fintech Week is Asia's global financial technology conference with around 25,000 attendees from over 70 countries. It ends this Friday.