Looking Back Looking Forward 2021 | Ep 4

Regulatory Technology After COVID-19

Looking Back Looking Forward 2021 | Ep3

Building Better Payment Systems

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward: Building Better Payment Systems, Professor Douglas Arner discusses the progression of electronic payments, since its acceleration towards social development from the last hundred years, and recently towards the impact COVID-19 on global economies. The use of such payments co-developed throughout human history, from the telegraph to the automated teller machine (ATM) and, most notably, to the establishment of decentralised ledger technology (blockchain, bitcoin, etc.). Such innovative steps have encouraged the competition to raise the bar, such as DCEP, the world’s first major currency central-bank digital currency in response to a more decentralised payment system.

The future role of electronic payments and its significance towards the coming years are highlighted in a new paper.

Must read:

Sovereign Digital Currencies: Reshaping the Design of Money and Payments Systems by Ross P. Buckley, Douglas W. Arner, Dirk A. Zetzsche, Anton N. Didenko, Lucien van Romburg :: SSRN

Looking Back Looking Forward 2021 | Ep2

Crypto Normalisation

In the first episode of Series 2 of Looking Back Looking Forward [https://youtu.be/_XRxLxFPlH0], Professor Douglas Arner looked at the big picture trends for finance, technology and regulation in 2021. In this Episode 2, he focuses in on one of these: how cryptocurrencies and digital assets are increasingly becoming a new asset class in the traditional financial system, subject to a wide range of regulation just like other aspects of finance. The episode discusses the evolution of crypto, blockchain and digital assets over the past decade, highlighting that – regardless of price volatility – both the blockchain and digital assets now have a significant place in the financial system, a place that is likely to increase with the launch of not only Diem but also an increasing range of central bank digital currencies.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2021 | Ep 1

Finance, Technology and Regulation in 2021

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward – the first of 2021 and the first of our second series – looking forward, Professor Douglas Arner talks about the key themes for FinTech, RegTech and digital finance in 2021. Looking back, Professor Arner highlights how 2020 marked the key trends for digital finance over the next decade: technology, sustainability, and an ongoing tension between globalisation and fragmentation. Looking at these in 2021, the focus will be on Digital Finance Platforms such as Ant, on normalisation of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, on building better infrastructure including RegTech/SupTech and central bank digital currencies, and on the role of data and cybersecurity.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme and all the episodes of Looking Back Looking Forward, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2020 | Ep 7

Strategies for FinTech Innovation

In this episode of Looking Back, Looking Forward, Professor Douglas Arner discusses on whether governments around the world are in a position to support the development of digital finance. Professor Arner highlights three key areas including the (i) underlying infrastructure underpinning the digital finance system; (ii) various regulatory approaches to FinTech and innovation more broadly; and (iii) context of the wider ecosystem beneficial for supporting the development of FinTech, such as a functioning legal system and educational initiatives.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2021 | Ep 6

Digitisation of Finance and Market Integrity

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward, Professor Douglas Arner discusses about the digitisation of finance and market integrity, by honing in on the future of AML, KYC and CDD. Professor Arner also shares on the COVID-19 crisis and its potential to spur on developing better financial systems while protecting market integrity. Also discussed are the pivots of how existing technology can be used to build better systems in place of the current analog systems being used in today’s world.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward

Ant Group & Global Digital Finance Platforms

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward – the last of 2020 – Professor Douglas Arner discusses how COVID-19 has driven digitisation of finance to new levels, marking the emergence of FinTech 4.0. In finance, the impact of COVID-19 on digitisation can be seen in dramatic increases in e-commerce and digital communications, with particularly dramatic increases in: 1) electronic payment and digital currencies; 2) regulatory technology (RegTech); 3) non face-to-face transactions, and 4) data and concentration. FinTech 4.0 is characterised by the emergence of increasingly dominant digital finance platforms benefiting from network effect and economies of scope and scale while integrating finance and technology. The best example is China’s Ant Group and the dramatic halt of its IPO – which would have been the world’s largest – by Chinese regulators in November 2020 as a result of the fact that these platforms bring not only benefits but also huge new risks and concerns.

These concerns and possible approaches are highlighted in a new paper: ‘Digital Finance Platforms: Toward a New Regulatory Paradigm’, available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3532975

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2020 | Ep 5

Looking Back Looking Forward: COVID-19 Implications

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward, Professor Douglas Arner discusses the implications of COVID-19 and the stakes toward the future of global economies and the financial system. Long-term structural changes, in an effort to tackle COVID-19’s increasing global impact, are sought through the theme of ‘technology, sustainability and globalisation versus fragmentation’ in this presentation.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2021 | Ep 4

After Bitcoin and Libra – Central Bank Digital Currencies

In this episode of Looking Back, Looking Forward, Professor Douglas Arner discusses the ways in which technology can be used with the aim of creating better financial systems.

Examples include China’s digital currency and electronic payment projects, along with Facebook’s launch of the second Libra White Paper (a proposed global stable coin). As governments are utilising electronic payments more increasingly due to COVID-19’s impact, central bank digital currencies are able to play an significant role in building better economies while shaping societies to deal with such crises.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2020 | Ep 3

Crises, Epidemics and Digital Finance

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward, Professor Douglas Arner discusses the current state of the global pandemic as the world transitions from a health crisis into an economic and financial crisis. Discussing from the standpoint of digital finance, Professor Arner also addresses the response of the current crises relating to financial system liquidity and the need to have in place a sound and robust financial infrastructure.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2020 | Ep 2

AI in Finance

In this episode of Looking Back Looking Forward, Professor Douglas Arner shares on the transformational development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular the beneficial and exciting opportunities it has created in the financial industry. The challenges involving ways to govern and regulate its usage is also touched upon Artificial Intelligence’s step into the digital financial world.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.

Looking Back Looking Forward 2020 | Ep 1

Introducing Looking Back, Looking Forward

Hong Kong University’s Professor Douglas Arner (Kerry Holdings Professor in Law) discusses on a range of issues across the FinTech world through research topics and interests in the digital financial world.

For more information on the University of Hong Kong’s financial technology programme, visit http://www.hkufintech.com and discover the transformation of information technology’s ever-growing impact on finance.