CBFL: Overview of Fintech and Regulatory Implications

The Centre for Banking & Finance Law (CBFL) hosted about 350 participants at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus on 3 Feb 2017 for a seminar on “Overview of Fintech and Regulatory Implications” by Professor Iris Chiu ’97 of University College London (UK).

The great interest that Singapore’s legal and financial community have in FinTech was evidenced by the overwhelming response to this event, which saw participants filling up the auditorium and spilling over to an adjacent room to watch the proceedings via video link.

Professor Chiu presented an overview of the regulatory implications for FinTech. She highlighted key developments in financial products, intermediation services and markets, and proposed a framework of ‘disruptive innovation’ for understanding the regulatory implications of financial innovation. This framework evaluates ‘disruptive finance’ in terms of the nature of the ‘change’ observed, its ‘substitutive potential’ and its ‘structural impact’.

The lecture was followed by a lively panel session featuring panellists Ms Jo Yeo (Deputy Director, FinTech & Innovation Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore), Mr Lam Chee Kin (Managing Director & Head, Group Legal, Compliance & Secretariat, DBS Ltd) and Mr Koh Chia Ling (Managing Director, OC Queen Street LLC). The discussion was moderated by NUS Law’s Assistant Professor Christian Hofmann.