Fintech has been hailed as a breakthrough in democratising financial services.
The new technology can substantially reduce the cost of providing retail banking, small business financing and insurance, as well as allow easier access to savings options and opportunities for investment. After the initial wave of enthusiasm of what fintech can deliver, questions have arisen as to evaluating the impact of fintech on the real economy. Related, fintech companies have started raising money on public markets, attracting valuations far in excess of their brick-and-mortar competitors. Are such valuations credible? The panel brings professionals from the four corners of fintech - entrepreneurial, legal, business advisory and academic – to share their views on these questions.
Materials available:
Video Photos
Julian Cunningham-Day is one of Linklaters' global Telecommunications, Media and Technology sector leaders. He has a wide practice encompassing regulatory and commercial telecoms work, all aspects of information governance, IT and outsourcing contracts, e-commerce and media work. His particular focus is working in highly regulated industries such as telecoms, financial services, professional services, utilities and the public sector, where he can combine his regulatory and commercial contracts expertise. Julian studied at St Catherine’s college, Oxford University (MA Hons Modern Languages - French and German).
Zhaoli Meng is a graduate of the National University of Singapore and has over ten years’ experience in research of the internet industry, fin-tech industry, telecommunication industry, and information systems. Dr. Meng leads the project “Digital China Index”, which uses billions of users’ real time data to measure the adoption of mobile internet in 31 provinces and 351 cities in China. She also leads the “Internet+” project, which helps provinces and cities in China attract platform businesses. Prior to JD Digits Research Institute, Dr. Meng was the Chief Economist of the Tencent Research Institute, as well as Deputy Secretary of the Tencent Foundation.
Irina Velkova is a member of the Fintech Steering Committee at Grant Thornton. Irina specialises in governance and regulatory matters and has worked on numerous projects in the Fintech and Financial services space. Irina has graduated in Law and has a Masters Degree in Corporate Law from University College London (UCL). She also holds a Diploma in English and European Law from the University of Cambridge.
Simeon Djankov is Policy Director at the Financial Markets Group and author of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2019. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria from 2009 to 2013. Prior to his cabinet appointment, Simeon was Chief Economist of the finance and private sector vice presidency of the World Bank. He was previously Rector of the New Economic School in Russia and a lecturer at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and holds a PhD in international economics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
The Financial Markets Group Research Centre (@FMG_LSE) was established in 1987 at the LSE. The FMG is a leading centre in Europe for policy research into financial markets.
The LSE SU FinTech Society aims to spark interest in the financial technologies industry through a selection of panel discussions, workshops, mentorship programs and much more.
Twitter hashtag: #LSEFintech
