This week, Britain is hosting the UK FinTech (financial technology) Week in London. The centrepiece event of Fintech Week 2017 is the first International FinTech Conference organised by HM Treasury and the Department for International Trade, which took place today.
The event was hosted by Chancellor Hammond, and featured some leading figures such as:
- Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney
- Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby
- TransferWise, Taavet Hinrikus
- Funding Circle, Samir Desai ,
- HM Treasury Fintech Envoy,Eileen Burbidge
- LSE plc, Xavier Rolet
- HSBC,Douglas Flint
- Prime Minister’s Business Ambassador – FinTech, Alastair Lukies
- Motive Partners,Andy Stewart
In his speech to the inaugural FinTech Conference, Chancellor Hammond said that today we are on the ‘brink of yet another industrial revolution’ which as the potential to ‘transform the structure of the global economy, and the way we live our lives’.
He added that ‘once again it is British invention and entrepreneurial spirit that is at the forefront of the technologies’ and – commenting on his recent visit to India – said that ‘with hundreds of millions of people worldwide entering the digital financial system every year that growth shows no sign of abating’.
The Chancellor told his audience that the UK is the best place in the world to succeed as a FinTech firm, and that the creation of such an environment was no accident:
…of course we have the talent, the entrepreneurs, and the markets……but we also have the regulatory and tax environment to support it too. Because we have given our regulators a clear mandate to do so….
He added that the government aims to do more to make the UK environment friendly and supportive of FinTech, adding that the consultations from the Industrial Strategy will also provide some insight how to best move forward.
Chancellor Hammond said that ‘we must invest to overcome the poor productivity performance that has plagued our economy for well over a decade’ which is ‘why at Autumn Statement I announced a £23 billion National Productivity and Investment Fund.’ He continued that the UK needs ‘a skills system that offers clear routes into work…and that is why at Spring Budget [he] announced funding for new ‘T-Levels’ for 16-19 year olds.’
‘We must embrace the technological change that has the potential to transform our economy for the better’, he added, recognising that we cannot remain ‘the number one place for FinTech and the other technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution…by simply relying on our ingenuity, talent and openness’ and that ‘we have to go out and get the business.’
The Chancellor also published an article, Our FinTech industry can power a prosperous future in The Times in which he wrote:
I am determined that this continues because I know that this is the best way of driving the highly skilled, highly productive economy that we want. We must do better at nurturing and developing the homegrown talent to drive our economy forward in the future.
Our vision of an outward-looking global Britain will deliver the high-skilled, high-wage economy of the future that will power the higher living standards we all want to see for future generations.
That is one of the principal drivers of our modern industrial strategy and it’s why I announced a £23 billion national productivity and investment fund and a new industrial strategy challenge fund to keep the UK at the forefront of disruptive technology.