The Fintech Week Lithuania, an online event that spans over the course of four days, will attempt to open the doors to look inside the issues and opportunities that the finance industry is facing today. We say finance, not fintech, because finance and technology are inseparable items today- or are they? Innovation leaders of banks, such as Swedbank and SEB will give insights about what does it mean for the traditional, incumbent players of the financial industry to compete with new, young entrants to the market, who often seem to be quicker and more agile. Will the traditional financial services players keep their market share and interest among customers? Who leads innovation, software-as-a-service (SaaS) or customer facing fintechs? Hear the insights from Sarah Kocianski, the head of research at 11:FS- a leading company that provides digital transformation solutions for the financial services industry. A well-known SaaS provider Mambu, which allows banks to deploy innovative products while taking into account cumbersome legacy systems, will give their views on the first day of the Fintech Week Lithuania. The startup has successfully established its engineering base in Lithuania- a country that has proven to have a solid legislation and ecosystem for fintech businesses.
The Covid- 19 crisis will redraw the economic landscape of many countries and it is already significantly affecting the businesses. As the crisis has only started to show its impact, the questions arise- how will this affect the startups? The Fintech Week Lithuania has invited finance and investment experts from the U.S.A. and VC professionals from Lithuania to explore the potential impact to the startup business and fundraising. Tune in the Fintech Week Lithuania to watch and hear Gytenis Galkis- a ‘licensed unicorn hunter’ of 70 Ventures and Darius Rugevičius- the founder of Connect Capital, who is frequently found by the VC deal tables in the U.S. and Asia. Investment Manager Kadeem Clarke of Market X will join the Fintech Week Lithuania from New York, while Tony Greenberg, who helps a star Lithuanian startup NOIA to navigate the U.S. investment and tech waters, will connect from Los Angeles, California.
The times of crisis, the times of today, have intensified the market conditions. The lawyers say that the pandemic created a ‘perfect storm for fraud’ in the markets, while the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said in a report that Covid-19 has created financial vulnerabilities. What are they? Cybersecurity is of a great importance, more than ever before, especially for the financial institutions. The Fintech Week Lithuania will take a close look at the increased risks in the current environment with no less than prominent experts from Israel and Germany. May Michelson of GK8- an Israeli cybersecurity firm that safeguards digital assets, and Malte Pollmann of Ultimaco- a solid cyber player from Germany, whose products have protected the World against terrorism and organised crime- will share their advice and guidelines.
Besides the winning of the market share, cybersecurity and compliance are arguably taking the second most important place for fintechs. Without proper compliance, Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know- Your- Customer (KYC) procedures- there is no sustainable business or future. Fintechs, like the incumbent banks and financial institutions, are vulnerable not only to cybersecurity threats, but also to bad actors, therefore, proper compliance procedures are a must. During the Fintech Week Lithuania, we will hear insights from an advisor to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Joseph Weinberg, who has also contributed in drafting legislations for a number of countries. Federica Taccogna will open the eyes for the audience to the world of financial crime and explain to what lengths the criminals go to clean their dirty laundry.
If this is not stimulating your mind yet- tune in for a panel that will blow your brains. Cryptographer Ian Grigg- a creator of Ricardian contracts, besides many other significant fascinating initiatives, and Constantinos Sgantzos-a theoretical physicist, biochemist, and expert in bioinformatics- will present their research about Artificial Intelligence implementations on the blockchain. These leading minds eat topics such as cellular automata, genetic algorithms, and Turing machine for breakfast. No, it is not about cryptocurrencies and whether the Bitcoin will go up or down- it is a fascinating technical research that will open your eyes.
But, how is the digital world with digital banking and digital payment institutions without digital money? Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner, who is ranked among the top 30 leading German economists, will talk about programmable digital Euro. He will be accompanied by Pavel Kravchenko- a cryptographer and the founder of Distributed Lab- who has already shown Ukraine what does it mean to create a digital national currency.
Naturally, the Fintech Week Lithuania will not forget the chefs, who have created the pie. The Fintech Week Lithuania will hold fintech startup pitch battles and culminate in the fintech awards- tune in to see who took the leading positions this year.
Opening greetings will be sent by Lithuania’s Minister of Finance, Vilius Šapoka and Pēteris Zilgalvis of the European Commission, Head of Unit, Digital Innovation and Blockchain.
Say Hello to the Fintech Week, say Hello to the Fintech World.
