London, 15th of October 2020… Every year since 2016, tens of thousands of professionals, regulators, entrepreneurs and academics meet in Singapore for the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) to discuss the future of finance. Since the festival was first held, the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) has been present every year, nurturing a relationship with the festival that expands beyond the duration of the event. This 2020 in particular, CFTE is strengthening its relationship with the Singapore Fintech Festival with both its co-founders Huy and Tram Anh Nguyen being named Ambassadors.
The long-standing partnership between CFTE and the Singapore Fintech Festival is one of vision. In a world where digitalisation is disrupting finance and driving innovation, those who do not understand how technology is impacting their work will not be ready for the future. CFTE co-founder Huy Nguyen Trieu was a pioneer in Fintech, voicing over how finance was changing through his blog ‘Disruptive Finance’. He also helped nurture the Fintech ecosystem at London and co-designed Oxford’s first Fintech programme to ensure the next generations of professionals are ready for the future of finance. After attending the first edition of Singapore Fintech Festival in 2016, Huy wrote a piece entitled: I have seen the future of finance, and it’s in Singapore.
In 2016, Huy was on stage with Samuel Tsien, CEO of OCBC, in the Festival’s first edition. They discussed the transformation of finance in corporate banking and highlighted that finance was changing but people were not adapting yet.
At the same time, Tram Anh was also aware that the finance industry was fast-transforming, and she was incredibly impressed by the message from Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). She was blown away with the ideas for startups, financial inclusion and AI for a better finance that were being fostered within the Festival. The change in finance was palpable in the event and left no doubt about the future path of the industry.
However, one worry remained: the people were not ready for this future – and something had to be done about it. SFF was an important catalyst in the creation of CFTE by Huy and Tram Anh, which they launched 6 months later in London. By the next edition of the Festival in 2017, CFTE had already provided Fintech training to hundreds and celebrated its first graduation ceremony during the SFF itself.
In 2018, CFTE hosted the AI in Finance awards during the Festival, which had grown in the number of attendees from 12,000 in 2016 to more than 50,000. On both occasions, Huy and Tram Anh had been either judges or speakers, as they continue to be in every edition of the Festival to this day.
CFTE has been a very big supporter of the Singapore Fintech Festival since the beginning and deeply associated with it. This year, however, CFTE is yet more honoured by having its 2 co-founders being named Ambassadors of the event, a title given to a limited number of people in recognition of their support and advocacy for the Festival and the future of finance.
“Singapore Fintech Festival has been one of the most impactful initiatives in Fintech and digital finance during the last few years, bringing together countries, companies and people to make finance better. I am honoured to be an Ambassador of SFF and help to make the 2020 edition even more impactful”, says Huy Nguyen Trieu.
“This year’s theme of the Singapore Fintech Festival is around People and Talent. I would encourage everybody to attend online, this year will be just phenomenal. The Singapore Fintech Festival is pushing the financial industry to be better and more innovative through discussions online and globally. I am humbled and honoured to be chosen as an Ambassador of SFF and will help to push more boundaries to help people to find opportunities” says Tram Anh Nguyen.
It seems like no better year for CFTE’s co-founders to become Ambassadors for the Festival. The topic of this year is “People and Talent”, which is exactly how CFTE was envisioned, making these two organisations even more aligned. At CFTE, putting the people at the core of the change is fundamental to success. In fact, their motto reads “In a tech world, we bet on people”. As Huy and Tram Anh point out, this year this is yet more important since the current COVID-19 crisis is driving unemployment and exacerbating the knowledge gap.
Honoured by their recognition and naming as Ambassadors, Huy and Tram Anh Nguyen welcome everyone to join a thriving global community of Fintech leaders in this year’s edition of the Singapore Fintech Festival, taking place on the 7-11th December. As in previous years, CFTE will deliver different masterclasses, including one on New Careers in Finance. More excitingly, CFTE is conducting a global survey of thousands of professionals on the roles of the future to be released prior to the Festival. We encourage all readers to take part in this survey. This year more than ever, talent and people will come together.
For further information, please contact: press@cfte.education
About CFTE:
The Centre for Finance, Technology & Entrepreneurship (CFTE) is a global education platform that aims to equip financial professionals with the necessary skills to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry. With offices in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, CFTE partners with Fortune 500 companies to build their knowledge in Financial Technology, whilst simultaneously supporting their digital transformation process. In a tech world, we bet on people.
