Conference In Vienna To Explore How To Balance Fintech’s Opportunities And Risks

Conference in Vienna to explore how to balance Fintech’s opportunities and risks

The Austrian National Bank and Finance Ministry, International Monetary Fund, IMF, and Joint Vienna Institute will join forces in a conference in Vienna on 28th and 29th January, to explore issues related to evolving technologies in the financial sector and to discuss the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of policy guidelines developed by the Fund and the World Bank Group

VIENNE, (Pakistan Point News - 25th Jan, 2019) The Austrian National Bank and Finance Ministry, International Monetary Fund, IMF, and Joint Vienna Institute will join forces in a conference in Vienna on 28th and 29th January, to explore issues related to evolving technologies in the financial sector and to discuss the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of policy guidelines developed by the Fund and the World Bank Group.

According to a press release issued by IMF, the event in Vienna - the first of five forums on the Bali Agenda to be held worldwide this year - will bring together public officials, private-sector executives and academic scholars from countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, as well as the Caucasus and Central Asia, to share their latest experiences and practices related to Fintech’s challenges "Policymakers can use the elements in the Bali Fintech Agenda to start putting together a comprehensive Fintech public policy framework that fits their situation best," said Tobias Adrian, the Fund’S Financial Counsellor and Director of Monetary and Capital Markets. "For each country, the focus will be different: for some it may centre around putting in place a level playing field through interoperability of payment infrastructures, for others the stress may be on consumer protection or on financial integrity."

"It is a great pleasure that the IMF decided to hold its European outreach event on the Bali Fintech Agenda in Austria," the Austrian Minister of Finance, Hartwig Loger, said. "With the creation of the Fintech Advisory Council, we are putting a strong emphasis on enabling Fintech in order to foster digitalisation of Austria’s financial markets. Experts in finance, regulation, and practitioners are jointly working on supporting greater consumer choice and higher efficiency of financial markets. We are delighted to be able to exchange our experiences with professionals from all over the world during this conference."

"Digitalisation will drive many changes in the financial sector. That brings both challenges and opportunities. I am looking forward to fruitful discussions", said Governor Ewald Nowotny from the OeNB.

The Bali Agenda was launched in October 2018 in Bali, Indonesia at the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, with the support of those institutions’ 189 member countries, including the UAE. It comprises 12 policy elements designed to help member countries harness the benefits of rapid advances in financial technology, while at the same time managing the many inherent risks.