The report seeks to provide a pathway toward sustainable financial innovation development by delving deeper into how the COVID-19 crisis has reshaped financial innovation. It also explores the rise of new technologies and an accelerated phase of digitalization across the industry, as well as in what ways the FinTech industry will help in overcoming the current phase of economic uncertainty as the world prepares for a holistic recovery.
The report follows on from a joint declaration issued in May 2020 by WAIFC members, exhibiting their collective commitment to seeking ways to mitigate the pandemic’s adverse outcomes by forming collaborative international working groups to facilitate the economic study of COVID-19. The publication is the outcome of an inclusive global survey exploring the innovation and FinTech landscape across the WAIFC-member financial centers’ regions, jointly undertaken by the Qatar Financial Centre and Luxembourg for Finance.
Comments on the release of this landmark report
Arnaud de Bresson, Chairman of WAIFC, said:
“The present COVID-19 crisis has brought about the need to reorientate the global economic model to accelerate sustainable finance, as well as the digital and the financial innovation, which are key components to the solution of this crisis. I want to thank Qatar and Luxembourg very warmly for having produced this new WAIFC contribution on the role of innovation and FinTech in the post-pandemic economic recovery.
This report reinforces WAIFC’s role in providing added value by creating the best dialogue between international financial centers and sharing their views on the new financial innovation trends and best practices. Considering the importance of the challenges, dialogue and cooperation are crucial, even if competition can also play its role in the short term.”
Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director of the WAIFC, added:
“This year was about protecting start-ups and other financial service providers which generate innovation in finance. Now it is time to plan for the economic recovery. We strongly recommend fostering cross-border digital services in the financial industry, gaining more and more acceptance globally. I am very grateful to our members, Qatar Financial Centre and Luxembourg for Finance, for coordinating this important work that we are making public with our report.”
The report found that the impact of the COVID-19 crisis was not sector-specific but global on the financial services industry as a whole. FinTech companies had to deal with varied industry dynamics on multiple fronts, facing liquidity crises as funding sources dried up during the pandemic. Furthermore, many FinTech subsectors started to gain momentum across the world in the face of the pandemic, with payments and remittance and e-commerce getting a boost, and RegTech increasingly being seen as the best business continuity decision financial institutions can take in light of the crisis.
You can download the publication at https://waifc.finance/resources.
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