Two nations whose government authorities are in the vanguard of fintech explorations worldwide have teamed up to organise a three-day forum to discuss innovation in ‘digital financial technology’.
The Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and Elevandi, a non-profit organisation set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), will co-organise the inaugural ‘Point Zero Forum’ from 21-23 June in Zurich, Switzerland.
The in-person event is aiming to provide a forum for senior figures from both public and private sectors ‘to drive the meaningful exchange of ideas and knowledge to advance fintech and web 3.0 in the digital economy’.
Singapore’s deputy prime minister and co-ordinating minister for economic policies, Heng Swee Keat, and Switzerland’s federal councillor and Federal Department of Finance head, Ueli Maurer, will open the forum. Topics on the forum’s agenda include decentralised finance (‘DeFi’) and sustainable finance.
The event is being organised in co-operation with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and Swiss National Bank (SNB), as well as MAS itself. It is being supported by public-private promotional body Finance.Swiss, export and investment promotion agency Switzerland Global Enterprise and California-based think-tank Milken Institute.
Fintech’s ‘tremendous potential’ globally
“Digital technology has tremendous potential to change the world for the better, especially through finance,” said Heng. “To unlock this potential, we must find new ways to collaborate and partner one another to tackle key global challenges and ride the new wave of opportunities.”
“Switzerland has long maintained an intensive financial dialogue with Singapore,” said Maurer. “Together, we are committed to open markets, international competition and constant innovation. The Point Zero Forum is intended to help ensure that innovation in digital financial technology can flourish and thrive in a secure framework for the benefit of all.”
Further confirmed speakers from public authorities include SNB governing board chairman Thomas Jordan; Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) chief executive Urban Angehrn; and MAS’s managing director Ravi Menon and chief sustainability officer Dr Darian McBain. Private-sector representation includes speakers from major banks such as UBS and Credit Suisse.
Event attendees will have the option of tours including visiting so-called ‘Crypto Valley’, a blockchain hotspot in the Swiss canton of Zug.
Elevandi was created by MAS last year as a company limited by guarantee to manage the annual Singapore FinTech Festival.
FURTHER READING / VIEWING
‘Going green: governments look to fintech to help combat climate crisis’ – summary of Global Government Fintech’s ‘How Can “Green Fintech” Help Tackle Climate Change?’ webinar (held on 8 February 2022), which featured SIF’s sustainable finance taskforce head, Christoph Baumann, among the speakers (a video of the webinar is embedded in the article)
 and Elevandi will co-organise the inaugural ‘Point Zero Forum’ from 21-23 June 2022){kind=link}