Faculty of law blogs / UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Australia’s Fintech Future

This post comes to us from Scott Farrell (Partner) and Shannon Finch (Partner) at King & Wood Mallesons.

FinTech (a combination of “Finance” and “Technology”) is one of the key themes in developments in finance and financial markets. It is changing services, products and the fabric of the marketplace itself. In a simple form, it can be thought of as the use of “Tech” to take the worry out of “Fin” for consumers and business alike.  The sector includes start-ups, existing providers of financial services and financial market infrastructure and technology companies.

This week, the Australian Government released “Backing Australian Fintech”, a statement setting out a framework to growing Australia’s FinTech capabilities and supporting the industry’s objective of making Australia the leading market for FinTech innovation and investment in Asia.  The priorities charted in the Australian Government’s statement reveal the initial direction which these developments could take.  The Australian Government indicates that it will be working with the FinTech industry, regulators and other stakeholders on these priorities and other key issues which underpin the continued innovation in financial services.  For those in finance, in technology, and for anyone who works with either of those areas, this is an important foundation on which the future of fundamental change may be built. 

The Australian Government has noted that: “FinTech is a positive disruption which a successful economy like Australia can and must embrace. Growing Australia’s FinTech capabilities will position Australia to seize new opportunities to develop export markets for our financial services technology in the transitioning economies of our major trading partners.”

The priorities revealed by the Australian Government relate to the following topics:

  • Regulatory Sandbox
  • Crowdfunding
  • Robo-advice
  • Data collection and use
  • Blockchain
  • Cyber-security
  • Government procurement
  • Taxation (Venture Capital and Digital Currencies)
  • Payment Systems
  • Insurance

Our summary of these priorities can be found in this note.  This note is part of King & Wood Mallesons’ publication of insights into issues affecting business.  To discover King & Wood Mallesons’ latest insights, please visit our insights page

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