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  • Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe

    Asia House Chief Executive discusses open banking at Singapore Fintech Festival

    Published On: 20 November 2019

    Open banking – in which banks collaborate with third-party providers to create apps and services using client data  – promises to transform global finance, from simplifying personal banking to improving SME access to funding.

    To explore what open banking will mean for Asia’s trade and investment landscape, Asia House Chief Executive Michael Lawrence was invited to chair a discussion with key industry figures at Singapore Fintech Festival 2019, organised by MAS.

    Lawrence was joined by Michael Tang, Global Financial Services Digital Transformation & Innovation Lead, Deloitte; Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and Co-Founder, TrueLayer; Noriaki Goto, Regional Executive for Asia and Senior Managing Executive Officer, MUFG Bank; and Todd Schweitzer, Chief Executive and Founder of Indonesia-based FinTech startup Brankas, for the session, which focused on the forces influencing open banking in the region.

    Privacy issues, regulatory approaches and the structural limitations of established banks were cited as key barriers for progress across open banking, but the dynamism shown by SMEs and FinTechs is driving change, the panel said.

    Lawrence, who questioned whether the trend towards open banking should be understood more as an evolution rather than a revolution, took part in Singapore Fintech Festival on the back of The Asia House Global Trade Dialogue, which assembled leading figures from across business, tech and policy to explore the future of trade in Asia and beyond.

    The dialogue builds on Asia House’s previous work exploring the digital revolution in Asia and what it will mean for global trade.