Analysing FinTech 2.0: CMS releases whitepaper examining transformative trend of FinTech across Asia
The disruption of the financial services sector by FinTech innovations has revolutionised the way in which financial services are consumed and has resulted in a surge in value to end-users. Consumers now enjoy access to services that were previously unavailable, whilst financial institutions and FinTech companies alike are able to gain greater insight into their offering and more importantly the consumer experience, leading to structural changes in the market. The vanguards of this new FinTech era have been non-financial institutions that have leveraged on new technologies to gain market share. These new entrants have included not only innovative start-ups, but also established internet giants. The effect is that the dominant position of financial institutions in the provision of financial services is gradually being eroded by these new entrants.
Through its experience in advising both startups and established financial service players, CMS has compiled their observations of emerging FinTech trends in the region in their whitepaper “FinTech 2.0: The Transformative trends across Asia”. The paper outlines the four key trends changing the financial services sector: Payment ecosystems; artificial intelligence; Internet of Things; and cost of compliance, and highlight the issues that key players should take note of to maximise value, and the risks and pitfalls that they should be mindful of.
Director of CMS Holborn Asia* and head of the firm’s FinTech practice, Jeremy Tan comments, “As a firm who has a strong focus on both the technology and financial services sector globally as well as in the region, we are in the privileged position of having advised both established financial institutions and FinTech companies across the world on the innovations and technologies that are shaping the FinTech era. This paper comprises our insights and recommendations on each of the key trends, which we hope would serve as a helpful guide to all relevant players in the region.”
Managing Partner of CMS Singapore, Andrew Stott adds, “Every company is now a technology company and innovation is required to simply stay still in the fast-changing economic world we live in. This is particularly true for financial services in APAC where the pace of change and commensurate opportunity is extremely high. CMS has long advised traditional financial institutions in banking and insurance and it is an exciting part of our business in APAC and globally to pair that with the new technology-aware legal offering that has come about because of the merger. To some degree we foresee developments in FinTech in APAC leading the way and the ability for our teams in region to feed back into our global network of 74 offices mean we can bring that expertise to bear for clients across multiple key markets that they operate in.”
To access the CMS FinTech whitepaper, please click on the link below to download.
* With effect from 1 September 2017, CMS established a formal law alliance (FLA) between its Singapore office and Singapore law practice Holborn Law LLC. The FLA, which has received approval from the Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Singapore, operate under the name CMS Holborn Asia.