AFTA hosts ‘Asian Digital Finance Forum and Awards 2023’

Dialog Genie and SLT-Mobitel mCash receive awards “Outstanding Innovations in Digital Onboarding and Trading in Sri Lanka” and “Outstanding Innovations in Digital Payments and Collections in Sri Lanka” respectively

Duke Financial Economics Centre Policy Director and Federal Reserve Bank of New York former Regulator Lee Reiners delivering his speech on the subject, “Regulating Crypto in the US: Easier Said Than Done” 

‘Asian Digital Finance Forum and Awards 2023’ was recently hosted by the Asian FinTech Academy (AFTA) in a hybrid format virtually and in-person at Hilton Colombo.

University of Hong Kong Kerry Holdings Professor in Law Douglas W. Arner, Monash University (Malaysia Campus) Professor of Finance Nafis Alam, University of Hong Kong Law, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Lab (LITE Lab) Founding Executive Director Brian W. Tang, National University of Singapore Senior Lecturer (Department of Finance) Dr. Emir Hrnjic, PhD, Citibank former Managing Director and Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) Co-founder Huy Nguyen Trieu and University of Oxford Saïd Business School Entrepreneurship Expert and CFTE Co-founder Tram Anh Nguyen, Duke Financial Economics Centre Policy Director and Federal Reserve Bank of New York former Regulator Lee Reiners delivered speeches virtually at the event.

There were a number of dignitaries participating and delivered speeches at the event including Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Assistant Governor Ananda Jayalath, CBSL former Assistant Governor Dr. D. Kumaratunge, PhD, Fintech Association of Sri Lanka (FASL) Senior Adviser Dr. Tissa Jayaweera, PhD, and FASL President Rajkumar Kanagasingam.

RealX (India) Co-founder and CEO Manish Kumar was interviewed by AnybanQ.lk Founder and CEO Hithesh Fernando on digital assets.

India’s first-ever International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) which was established in 2020 with the main objective to develop a strong global connect and focus on the needs of the Indian economy as well as to serve as an international financial platform, was recognised with the “Outstanding New Asian Regulatory and Technological Innovation in Financial Services”.

The major national telecommunications services providers in Sri Lanka were recognised for their fintech solutions including Dialog Genie with the “Outstanding Innovations in Digital Onboarding and Trading in Sri Lanka” and SLT-Mobitel mCash with the “Outstanding Innovations in Digital Payments and Collections in Sri Lanka”. Indian real world digital assets platform RealX was recognised with the “Outstanding Indian Fintech Innovator in Real World Digital Assets” and France-headquartered multinational technology company IDEMIA’s Asia-Pacific operation with the “Outstanding Biometric, CBDC and Payment Services Innovation for Financial Inclusion in APAC.”

A few international eminent professionals, researchers and entrepreneurs were recognised including Liam McCance (Co-founder of Habitto) with the “Outstanding FinTech Influencer in APAC” award, Joseph Joshy (CTO at the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), India) with the “Outstanding FinTech Regulatory and Innovation Leader in South Asia”, Neera Inamdar (Co-founder of RealX, India) with the “Outstanding Indian Woman Fintech Entrepreneur in Real World Digital Assets”, Romain Zanolo (MD of IDEMIA (APAC) with the “Outstanding FinTech Ecosystem Facilitator in APAC”, Lisa-Marie Ross (Research Associate of National University of Singapore – Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Am Main) with the “Outstanding Law and Regulation Researcher for Digital Assets”, Kelvin Lester King Lee (Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippines) with the “Outstanding FinTech Regulatory and Technology Innovation Leader in the Philippines”, Yasmeen Al Sharaf (Director, FinTech and Innovation Unit, Central Bank of Bahrain) with the “Outstanding FinTech Regulatory and Innovation Leader in the Middle East”.

The event was supported by Colorado, USA-based American Academy of Project Management (AAPM) and Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM), Ambuli International, Global Impact FinTech (GIFT) Forum, WEBXPAY and Rhino Partners.