Britain is ideally placed to enhance its role in the global
economy through its leading role in FinTech, the Chancellor will
tell the UK’s inaugural International FinTech Conference today
[Wednesday].
In his speech, will lay out his vision of
how UK’s cutting edge industries, including FinTech, can dominate
the so-called fourth industrial revolution by delivering the
highly skilled, highly paid and highly productive economy set out
in the Government’s Plan for Britain.
He will also warn that our leading status as a global financial
powerhouse could wane if we don’t seize and exploit the
technological opportunities that lay before us.
The Chancellor will reaffirm his belief that Brexit provides a
chance for Britain to forge a new role for itself in the global
economy. He will say that Britain has the position, the
expertise, the talent and the determination to lead the
world.
The International FinTech Conference will bring together over 100
of the UK’s most exciting FinTech firms and hundreds of investors
from all over the globe in an effort to boost investment into one
of Britain’s exciting sectors.
The FinTech sector already employs over 60,000 people in the UK.
Responsible for innovations like contactless payments, banking
apps and online crowd funding, the sector is worth nearly £7
billion to the UK economy. It is changing the way we bank and
thanks to Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit and our world leading
financial sector and regulatory environment, independent experts
rank the UK as the best place to start and grow a FinTech firm
anywhere in the world.
The Chancellor will say:
“…FinTech provides consumers with better services, more
choice, and lower costs for businesses, it can mean access to new
and cheaper credit…”
He will make clear that Britain must go out a seize the
opportunities on offer by saying:
“We can’t 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, we have to go out
and get the business.
“We will have to strive and graft and fight to seize the
opportunities - and make the most of them. That means growing and
strengthening the areas – like Fintech – in which we enjoy a
competitive advantage… while we need to continue to attract the
brightest and the best from around the world to these shores. We
must also do better at nurturing and developing the home-grown
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.”
The Government’s International FinTech Conference is part of UK
FinTech Week (10-14 April). FinTech Week aims to showcase the
sector’s success, global regulatory expertise and attract
investment to the UK. Designed to bring together industry,
government and regulators, it is designed to build on the success
of last year’s event, and focus of the issues affecting Britain’s
world leading sector, including investment, access to skills and
business support to FinTech start-ups.
FinTech Week includes:
- Innovate Finance’s Global Summit (April 10-11)
- The International FinTech Conference (April 12)
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) International Innovate
Seminar (April 12)
- HM Treasury is also hosting a Pensions Dashboard prototype
Tech Sprint (April 12-13)
