[Hong Kong, 25 October 2016] The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) today had the great honour to host a presentation tour for a group of government officials and top executives from Hong Kong’s major financial regulators, led by Prof. K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury. Amongst the senior leaders were Mr. Howard Lee, Senior Executive Director of Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Mrs. Diana Chan, Managing Director of Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), Mr. Ros Lam, Acting Commissioner of Insurance, and the Executive Committee of Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
Financial Technologies (Fintech) is burgeoning in global financial landscape in recent years. It changes the nature of commerce and hones in on the customers’ need for trust and an enhanced personal experience. As a global financial hub with well-structured financial regulations, world-class financial institutions, global investors, top-notch R&D talents as well as booming Fintech start-ups, Hong Kong is well-poised to be a premier Fintech hub in the region.
In his 2016-17 Budget, the Hon. John C Tsang, the Financial Secretary, announced a range of measures to further Hong Kong’s development as a Fintech hub, including establishing dedicated platforms at the HKMA, SFC and Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to enhance communications between regulators and the Fintech community. A pool of about HK$5 billion has also been set aside for ventures and research projects in various technology areas including Fintech.
Fintech is one of the key R&D strategies at ASTRI. ASTRI invests significant R&D efforts in developing new and advanced security technologies, applications and systems such as cyber-security information sharing platform and solutions, encryption technologies, behavioural authentication, blockchain technology and big data etc. to support financial institutions in embracing the Fintech age.
In this presentation tour, ASTRI offered an overview of its mission and its major initiatives in addressing the Fintech needs, followed by several detailed technology demonstrations including Security Intelligence Sharing Platform, Blockchain applications on securities, big data analytics for financial institutions and banks, Multi-model Authentication Technologies and Artificial Intelligence based Hand-written Chinese Documents Processing System.
Speaking after the visit, Mr. Wong Ming-yam, Chairman, ASTRI said, “We are very honoured to have Prof. Chan and the delegates from FSTB, HKMA, MPFA, OCI and SFC to visit us today. It was a very meaningful visit as it helped us understand more about the perspectives of policy makers and regulatory bodies as well as the various needs for different financial sectors, based on which ASTRI can develop more efficient and effective Fintech solutions that suit their requirements. We look forward to fostering more collaboration with the financial sector and regulatory bodies in the future.”
Dr. Frank Tong, CEO of ASTRI said, “At ASTRI, we advocate for a robust ecosystem for Fintech development in Hong Kong. Regulatory framework, infrastructure building, platform technology development, talent nurturing and development as well as collaborative efforts with regulatory, industry and universities are those key factors that would make Hong Kong a success in advancing in Fintech. We are very delighted to have the opportunity to showcase ASTRI’s Fintech R&D projects, which are designed and customised with the objectives of assisting regulatory bodies and financial institutions to streamlining procedures, enhancing security and efficiency as well as brining down transaction cost.”
The delegates also visited ASTRI Security Laboratory and Cyber Range Laboratory, the latter of which was opened in July this year to provide professional cyber security training for the Hong Kong Police Force. The visit was concluded with a fruitful discussion on various aspects that help promote Hong Kong to become a global Fintech hub by leveraging on strengthened collaboration among regulators, the industry and R&D institutes.
About ASTRI
Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research. ASTRI’s core R&D competences in various areas are organised under seven Technology Divisions, namely Communications Technologies, Electronics Components, IC Design (Analog), IC Design (Digital), Opto-electronics, Security and Data Sciences, and Intelligent Software and Systems. Five areas of applications including financial technologies, intelligent manufacturing, next generation network, health technology, and smart city are identified for major pursuit. For further information about ASTRI, please visit www.astri.org
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Ms Cherry Au Tel : (852) 3406 2993 Email : cherryau@ astri.org
Led by Prof. K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (6th from left), delegates from financial regulatory bodies to visit ASTRI.
Prof. K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (2nd from left) and Mr. Ros Lam, Acting Commissioner of Insurance (1st from left) look at the technology demonstration of Multi-model Authentication Technologies.
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