LONDON DIGITAL FINANCE &

MARKETS INNOVATION SUMMIT

London, United Kingdom

Barclays Rise, London

Q1 2024

This One-Day conference explores how banks, fintechs, financial and investment institutions are adopting digitalisation, AI and other frontier technologies to transform their business processes, streamline efficiencies, innovate services and improve profitability, while managing compliance and cyber security risks.

At the same time the world’s central banks and regulators are planning for a new world of tokenisation, retail and wholesale CBDCs along with associated regulatory infrastructure that will impact the future of financial services and capital markets.

Innovations being introduced by fintechs, challenger, internet and neo banks, as well as payment and embedded finance service providers, pose opportunities and threats to major banks.

Attendees at the Summit will gain first-hand insights and understanding into:

Enabling financial services innovation and payment systems digitalisation.
Technology prerequisites and use cases for digital currencies, stablecoins and CBDCs.
Initiatives in regulatory policy, open banking and sandboxes in boost innovation.
Tokenised securities issuance and capital markets digitalisation for lower costs, reduced risk, and wider market access
Digital infrastructure development, sustainability and ESG in risk frameworks

Detailed Agenda

MORNING SESSION 1

08:30-09:15
Registration and coffee

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND REGULATORY INFRASTRUCTURE
(Morning Session 1: 09:15- 11:20)

9:15-9:20
Welcome and opening remarks

Michael Cherrington & Leoni Zhao, Managing Directors and Co-Founders, West Meets East

9:20-9:40
Keynote presentation - Adopting public private partnership to unlock growth and prosperity through FPS, a digital-first economy and sustainable finance initiatives

Realising economic benefit from key U.K. competitive advantages in financial and professional services as well as technological and data-driven industries
Enhancing global policy and collaboration

City of London Corporation tbc

9:40-10:00
How digital will transform the financial industry

Re-imagining London’s future in financial and professional services
Implications of the City of London’s global city roadmap for financial services
Productivity benefits of a digital financial services economy
Digital’s role in ensuring financial inclusion
Goals for techUK’s financial services programme

Andy Thornley, Head of Programme - Financial Services, techUK

10:00-10:10
International perspectives on fintech and digital finance

Digital finance evolution in Europe vs. Asia
Opportunities for U.K. and European fintechs in Asia

Francis Trollope, Senior Manager Fintech - Deputy Head of Business and Talent Attraction and Investment Promotion, Invest Hong Kong, London Office

10:10-10:30
Hong Kong’s perspective on digitalisation of financial service and virtual asset platforms

Regulatory development and considerations for sustainable innovation and grow
Licensing of virtual asset trading platforms (VATP)

Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)

Securities and Futures commission of Hong Kong (SFC)

10:30-10:50
Regulatory policy evolution for digital finance and markets innovation

The Financial Services and Markets (FSM) Bill and smarter financial services framework
Opportunities for the UK as a global digital and crypto-asset technology hub
Evolution of the PRA and FCA
Implementing a regulatory sandbox to test, adopt and scale new technologies
Longer term financial stability and initiatives to reduce systemic risk and contagion in the financial industry

Panel Discussion

10:50-11:10
Digital business banking transformation for SMEs - Fireside chat

What benefits will digital banking and financial management services bring?
How businesses will use digital transformation and innovation to increase efficiencies
Combining modern tech with local relationships to provide tailored support for growth

Conrad Ford, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Allica Bank

11:10-11:40
Morning coffee and tea networking break

MORNING SESSION 2

DIGITAL CURRENCIES AND FINANCIAL INDUSTRY FUTURE
(Morning Session 2: 11:40- 13:40)

11:20-12:05
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) use cases and technical initiatives

Global shifts in how money is issued, distributed, and used
Outcomes of the BoE / BIS project on innovation for a more digitalised economy
Potential for implementation of wholesale, retail and synthetic CBDCs
Orchestrating the regulated digital ecosystem

Claire Conby, Operations and Governance Lead, Digital Pound Foundation

Tamara Ferreira Schmidt, Executive Director, Digital Euro Association

12:05-12:20
How blockchain API will transform digital transactions and shape the future of fintech

Overledger platform and CBDC - conclusions from Project Rosalind
How interoperability, DLT are being adopted in demanding financial use case innovations, including regulated tokenised money and digital assets

Dr. Luke Riley, Head of Innovation, Quant Network

12:20-12:40
How M&A, fintechs and challenger banks will shape the financial future

Where is investment being channelled now?
Venture-capital and private equity-backed deals
Institutional opportunities with digital asset markets
Improving the access of private companies to capital
M&A and fintech consolidation impacts on the financial ecosystem

Panel Discussion

Roberto Napolitano, Director, Innovate Finance

12:40-13:40
Networking lunch break

AFTERNOON SESSION 1

DIGITAL ASSETS AND FINANCIAL MARKETS INNOVATION
(Afternoon Session 1: 13:40-15:45)

13:40-13:55
Digital asset tokenisation, management and the future of capital markets

Ecosystem for digital asset management
Tokenising assets and revolutionising market efficiency
Potential for leveraging adaptive AI and LLMs
Future of securities settlement and management of the underlying risks

Tamara Ferreira Schmidt, Executive Director, Digital Euro Association

13:55-14:15
Applying model risk management practice in the emerging era of AI, ML-driven digital financial services and markets

Impacts of AI, ML in financial services
Applicability and limitations of existing risk management frameworks
Specific risks with AI systems and means to address them
Trends in regulatory guidance on model risk management
Model complexity and implications for risk awareness

Sanja Hukovic, Head of Model Risk Management, London Stock Exchange Group

14:15-14:35
Digital assets and future of capital markets: Use case on property

Design, delivery and operation of global real estate exchanges utilising distributed ledger technologies
Adopting AI, storage and smart contracts to transform legacy workflow processes
Realising a fast, efficient, liquid and secure, global property trading system

Antony Abell, CEO and Co-Founder, TPX™️ Property Exchanges

14:35-14:55
Digital assets and future of capital markets: Use case on carbon asset tokenisation and carbon credit exchange

How blockchain helps in building trust, transparency and accountability among participants in carbon credit initiatives
Inclusive carbon solutions to empower SMEs and retail investors
Use of Greencoin utility tokens in providing incentives and fundraising
Collaborative ecosystem building using partnerships for holistic impact

Deshith Gamage, Co-Founder, GreenLabs.cc

Dr. Hui (Hugo) Gong, Tech Advisor, Greenlabs.cc, and Founder, China-UK Blockchain Association

14:55-15:15
Enabling digital technologies and ESG challenges

Sustainability and ESG compliance challenges for financial institutions
How the financial services industry has reacted in the wake of COP26
Achieving net-zero across a financial institution’s value chain
Embedding ESG into risk frameworks and technology choices
Supporting the future digital ecosystem

Lesley Li, CEO and Co-Founder, U Impact

15:15-15:45
Afternoon tea and coffee networking break

AFTERNOON SESSION 2

DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES INNOVATION
(Afternoon Session 2: 15:45-17:30)

15:45-16:00
Cross- border payment systems digitalisation

Current inefficiencies in the financial and payments system
Innovation to facilitate cross-border trade to help SMEs
Connecting and improving the financial eco-system between the U.K. and Asia

Sumit Arora, Managing Director and Board Member, EEA and UK Region, Ant Group

16:00-16:20
Discussion: Future of payments, open banking development and PSD3

Strengthening the foundations of open banking
Functionality and performance rules for APIs for improved data flows and payment information sharing
Potential for programmable money to streamline complex corporate payments

Claire Conby, Co-Founder and CRO, OneStep Financial

Sumit Arora, Managing Director and Board Member, EEA and UK Region, Ant Group

16:20-16:40
Transforming the regulated investment platform model through automation, self-service and outstanding user experience

Implementing secure, client-centric platforms and solutions for financial advisors in wealth management
Importance of tech ownership and control in provision of access to innovation in features offered and personalised experience internationally
Evaluation of frontier technologies for a new generation of personalised financial products and services

Alex Cowan-Sanluis, Chief Executive Officer

16:40-17:00
Digital banking transformation - Evolution of cybersecurity strategies

Enhancing cybercrime threat detection and accelerated response
Leveraging new AI models, automation and shared data to protect against data breaches
Implications of regulation on cybersecurity and related compliance

Martin Borrett, Distinguished Engineer and CTO, IBM Security UK and Ireland

17:00-17:20
Intellectual Property (IP) strategy for fintech and technology providers: Including an update on overseas jurisdictions

Identifying and obtaining registered IPRs for fintech innovations
Open-source software licensing
Copyright and brand protection in fintech
R&D collaborations and commercial transactions

17:20-17:30
Concluding summary: Evolution of financial industry structure for the future digital economy

Essential financial services innovation for digital life
Unlocking inclusive digital economies
Leveraging private capital for social and environmental needs
How to foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and resilience

Andy Thornley, Head of Programme - Financial Services, techUK

Roberto Napolitano, Director of Marketing, Innovate Finance tbc

17:30
Close of London Digital Finance & Markets Innovation Summit

Speakers

Andy Thornley

Head of Financial Services, techUK

Andy joined techUK in August 2022 as Head of Programme – Financial Services. His role includes leading techUK’s work in building a greater understanding of the 'technological art of the possible' in order to apply it to the reform and evolution of financial systems.

Before joining techUK, Andy worked for a number of other bodies in the financial services sector, including the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, where in addition to owning policy and public affairs, he was also responsible for fostering InsurTech in the sector.

Francis Trollope

Senior Manager Fintech, Deputy Head of Business and Talent Attraction - Investment Promotion, Invest Hong Kong, London Office

Previously Francis specialised in investment and tax planning of individuals, families and business owners in the UK at FLM Wealth Management, St. Jame’s Place and Fidelity International. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).

Francis is Senior Manager, Fintech at InvestHK, the Hong Kong SAR Government Department where he is responsible for attracting and retaining Foreign Direct Investment.

Conrad Ford

Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Allica Bank

Previously Conrad founded Funding Options - a fintech named in the 2022 Financial Times FT1000 list of Europe’s fastest-growing firms - before stepping down as CEO in 2019. More recently, he has advised a number of the UK’s flagship fintechs, including Starling Bank, iwoca, Coconut and Trade Ledger.

Conrad Ford is Chief Product Officer at Allica Bank, which was recently named by The Times newspaper as one of the UK’s Top 20 financial technology (fintech) firms. Allica is bringing relationship banking back to the UK’s established SMEs, using the latest technology.

Sumit Arora

Managing Director and Board Member, EEA and UK Region, Ant Group

Throughout his career, Sumit has collaborated with entities like Pearson Education, BBC, SAP, Christie’s, Tidal Music, Liverpool Football Club, Urban Outfitters and Travel pack on impactful cross-border payment initiatives.

With a strong focus on consumer needs, Ant Group's brands, AliPay and World First, have excelled in offering frictionless payment experiences. World First's range of cross-border payment solutions, multi-currency accounts, and foreign exchange services have bolstered international trade, supported exporters and importers, and empowered e-commerce by enabling multi-currency payments.

Sanja Hukovic

Head of Model Risk Management, London Stock Exchange Group

Sanja worked for three and a half years as JP Morgan head of Quality Assurance for Model Risk Governance and Review and JP Morgan Chase and Co.

Sanja’s model validation career started in UBS Quantitative Risk Control, where she was first the product head for the securitised product in New York, and then Deputy Head and Product Head for EQ, FZ and Client Portfolio teams in London and Zurich. Sanja then led the UBS quantitative risk standard team, which part of risk methodology group focusing on Risk Based PnL, and quantitative risk measures. She returned to model validation to cover UBS Treasury, Operational Risk, and AML models.

Antony Abell

CEO and Co-Founder, TPX™️ Property Exchanges

As a Founder my role has been to create, design, fund and enable! The TPX™ Property Exchanges is due to deploy their regulated exchanges 'shortly' and the target is 20x cities in 20 months.

Antony is a serial entrepreneur / financier who focuses his efforts on the running and funding of breakout technologies and high growth ventures. His current focus is in the commercial deployment of new proptech using blockchain (DLT), smart contract, automated market maker (AMM), AI and DeFi enabled technologies and systems on regulated property exchanges that enable property as a new liquid, tradable, asset class. She returned to model validation to cover UBS Treasury, Operational Risk, and AML models.

Martin Borrett

Distinguished Engineer and CTO, IBM Security UK and Ireland

Martin is Chairman of the European IBM Security Board of Advisors, represents IBM at GFCE and the Industry Advisory Board of LORCA, the London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement, is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and member of the IET.

Martin advises at the most senior level in clients on policy, business, technical and architectural issues associated with security. Martin leads IBM's Security Blueprint work and is co-author of the IBM Redbooks "Introducing the IBM Security Framework and IBM Security Blueprint to Realize Business-Driven Security" and "Understanding SOA Security".

Tamara Ferreira Schmidt

Executive Director, Digital Euro Association

Tamara has been actively participating in the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem to foster innovation with interests covering fintech, education, blockchain and artificial intelligence among others.

In her role at Digital Euro Association (DEA), Tamara is involved in projects related central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, crypto assets, and other forms of digital money. She is a financial market specialist with over 15 years of experience working with investments and product structuring including B3, one of the world’s largest exchanges.

Deshith Gamage

Co-Founder, GreenLabs.cc

Deshith specialises in fintech and corporate compliance for blockchain and decentralised finance, as well as data management and analysis for AI modelling. He holds an MSc in fintech with business analytics from the University of Westminster.

Being one of the key concept developers for deploying tokenised carbon credits on the blockchain, Deshith is working on GreenLabs's carbon capture standardisation framework and their GreenCoin token.

Lesley Li

CEO and Co-Founder, U Impact

Previously, she worked for leading investment banks including JP Morgan and Barclays in London for over ten years. She graduated with a Masters in Finance from Cambridge Judge Business School and MPhil in Industrial Management from University of Cambridge.

Founded by Lesley in Berlin, U Impact helps financial institutions to turn their ESG cost and regulatory burden into revenue and growth opportunities by using data to empower their clients to become more confident and sustainable investors.

Lynn Zhai

Managing Director, Anova Space Technology

Previously, Lynn worked for Amazon, working on digital transformation, streamlining operational efficiencies and enhanced customer satisfaction. She holds a Master’s degree from University of Warwick.

Lynn is passionate about fostering cross-industry collaboration bridging the gap between earth orbit (EO) data and financial professionals. Anova Space Technology collaborates with satellite operators, offering solutions to clients worldwide. Lynn identified the potential for harnessing Anova’s EO data with analytics and nuances of financial markets to revolutionise how financial institutions make informed decisions and manage risk.

Dr Nithin Thomas

CEO and Founder, Klarytee

Klarytee is a data centric security platform that protects sensitive data in documents from leaking to AI, public cloud and SaaS. Nithin has a PhD and MEng in computer systems engineering from the University of Bristol.

Felicia Meyerowitz Singh

Founder & CEO, MD, NED and Fintech Advisor - Engage Smarter AI, CompareThePlatform, Platform One

She is a financial services, open finance and wealth market specialist, working in an FCA regulated environment across insurers, banks, and investment distribution firms. Felicia has an Executive MBA in Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Strategic Marketing from London Business School.

Felicia is co-founder of Engage Smarter, which provides financial institutions with customer support in making financial decisions leveraging AI chatbox. The app is live with a large FI, backed by UK government grant.

Who Should Attend

Bankers

Commercial, Retail, Investment

Digital Service Providers

Card Service Providers, Asset Banks, Exchanges, FinTech Companies

Professionals

Legal, Financial, Audit, Insurers

Corporate Executives

C-Suite, Managing Directors,Policy Developers

Government

Central Banks, Regulatory Authorities

Investors

Venture Capitalist, Private Equity Firms, Hedge Funds

About the Venue

The Trampery Ballroom

The Trampery is B Corp-certified organisation that takes its social and environmental impact seriously, working with local and independent suppliers that are creating a positive impact. It actively supports underrepresented entrepreneurs to access workspace and business support. Since 2017, revenue from their event spaces and meeting rooms has helped provide over 500 entrepreneurs with workspace and business support. Centrally located in Old Street, the venue is within easy reach of the City, Liverpool Street and Moorgate.

Be a Sponsor

New Opportunities

Increase awareness of your digital financial innovations, service strategies and technology leadership to maximise access to new opportunities across international financial centres

Engage Customers

Offers you an unrivalled opportunity to engage with your customers and peers, enabling in-depth discussion of emerging use cases, digital services and technical solutions being offered.

Lead Generation

Networking and understanding international opportunities are part of our core value proposition, enabling you to engage with financial and technology thought leaders from leading international financial centres ranging from the UK and Europe to the Middle East and Asia

Be a Sponsor at London

Digital Finance &
Market Innovation Summit

London Digital Finance & Market Innovation Summit
is jointly organised by

West Meets East is a specialist market entry, business strategy advisor and events organiser with in-depth experience and expertise on opportunities in finance, high-tech and related sectors. Our markets include the UK, Europe in the West and greater China, Singapore, ASEAN, South Korea and Japan in the East.

We offer bespoke solutions tailored to the needs of smaller and medium-size growth companies in these markets, many of which are highly challenging in terms of cultural, business, and regulation. These enable our advisory clients and event attendees to maximise business prospects, enable partnerships, alliances and acquisitions as well as identify financing and investment opportunities. Our focus is always to minimise the often high costs and risks involved with market entry, product introduction, and investment.

Conference Connection provides a global B2B platform for knowledge exchange, business interaction and networking through high profile flagship conferences, industry summits and Executive briefings held internationally, in collaboration with International organisations, think-tanks and Associations. Its industry verticals include the financial, oil and gas, maritime, aviation and legal sectors, delivered through linkage with commercial, professional and policy groups worldwide.

The Group has held more than 3000 world class events since its inception in 1994, with the highest industry support, showcasing sustainable partnerships and consistently delivering leading edge content, C-Level global attendance from 100 countries, with premier networking opportunities and innovative approaches to maximise the delegate and stakeholder experience and will co-organise a new series of events in Digital Finance planned for London, Singapore and Hongkong.

Supporting Partners

Invest Hong Kong is the department of the Hong Kong SAR Government responsible for Foreign Direct Investment, supporting overseas businesses to set up and expand in Hong Kong.

An international FinTech hub characterised by a diverse, resilient, and dynamic landscape, Hong Kong is a deep market on the rise with a large number of financial institutions and FinTech startups looking to rapidly scale-up. The Hong Kong FinTech sector bucked the global trend as companies continued to grow, raise capital and hire more talent.

TechUK is the trade association which brings together people, companies and organisations to realise the positive outcomes of what digital technology can achieve. We create a network for innovation and collaboration across business, government and stakeholders to provide a better future for people, society, the economy and the planet.

The financial services industry relies heavily on technology, from communications and infrastructures to new technologies such as cloud, AI and blockchain. Now more than ever, financial services providers embark on new digital transformation journeys to improve processes, resilience, and services. We bring together and connect firms from across the ecosystem to ensure innovation and technology can be fully harnessed and embraced by industry and regulators.