Welcome Remarks at 2025 Fintech Innovation Lab APAC Welcome Reception on “Responsible Innovation and Sustainable Fintech Collaboration”

1. Marco (Tsui, Managing Director and Head of Financial Services of Accenture), Eric (Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited), distinguished guests and friends, good evening.
2. On behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, I would like to express our gratitude to Accenture and Cyberport for inviting us to this event, which marks both the beginning of the new cohort and the 12^th anniversary of this impactful programme.
3. Over the past decade, FILAP (Fintech Innovation Lab APAC) has evolved into a platform for innovation and collaboration, enabling Fintech start-ups to accelerate product development and connect with industry leaders. This year, the HKMA is honoured to become a strategic partner to the programme.
4. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to fostering innovation, promoting responsible Fintech adoption, and nurturing a secure ecosystem in Hong Kong.
5. With agentic artificial intelligence (A.I.), tokenisation, Regtech, climate-aligned finance and cybersecurity taking centre stage in this year’s FILAP, it is clear that technologies are reshaping the financial landscape. And the full potential of Fintech is being realised through collaboration.
6. Financial institutions, Fintech experts and supervisors must all work together to build solutions that are not only cutting-edge, but also grounded on shared competence, interoperability, and long-term trust.
7. As a global financial hub, Hong Kong stands at the forefront of innovation and collaboration. Our “Fintech 2025” strategy promotes broader digital transformation and foster greater partnerships between financial and technology firms.
8. Our latest stock-take shows that 95% of banks in Hong Kong, including all retail banks, have adopted Fintech. The most popular ones are Regtech, Insurtech and A.I.-powered solutions.  Half of the banks anticipate budget growth of 10-20% over the next three years.  
9. With that, how do we work together for a future-proof Fintech ecosystem? There are, in my view, two key drivers: responsible innovation and sustainable collaboration.

Responsible Innovation

10. One of our supervisory priorities is to enable “responsible innovation”, ensuring financial stability and safeguarding consumer interests. This means while banks embrace new technology, they are also expected to maintain dynamic and robust guardrails against evolving risks.  
11. To promote innovation, the HKMA has launched two innovative supervisory arrangements, namely the Generative A.I. Sandbox (GenA.I. Sandbox) and the Supervisory Incubator for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
12. Banks can partner with Fintech providers to make use of these testing grounds, co-creating and validating innovative ideas, harnessing the power brought about by A.I. and DLT. During the process, the HKMA provides targeted supervisory feedback, through an interactive and iterative process.
13. So far, we have seen different use cases ranging from risk management to fraud detection and customer services. Notable example from the first cohort of GenA.I. Sandbox include augmenting credit assessment and fraud detection by automated processing of unstructured data.  Another pilot case aims to enhance customer service and handle more personalised and complex enquiries.
14. We have also observed novel use cases of “A.I. vs A.I.”, which is to use A.I. tools to mitigate the risks and challenges posed by A.I. itself. A timely example is the development and deployment of deepfake detection solutions, to tackle the emerging threat from deepfake scams.

Sustainable Collaboration

15. While the use of sandboxes is foundational to validate new ideas, it is only the first step. The true measure of success is our ability to forge long-term, sustainable partnerships, delivering a “whole-of-system” outcome.
16. For a bank, the commitment to protect its customers is non-negotiable. It means that before any new solution moves from proof-of-concept to production, there must be confidence in the technology partners behind it.  Equally, a Fintech provider needs to understand the risk management expectations of its banking partner.
17. This is sustainable collaboration. Underpinning such collaboration is the sharing of knowledge and experience.  To this end, the HKMA has launched a Fintech Knowledge Hub last year, which acts as a central repository and Fintech-related knowledge sharing.  There is a wide range of publications, such as two Fintech adoption practice guides, 15 use case videos, list of relevant news, announcements, and so on.
18. We have also launched a FiNETech series, which has so far brought together over 2,000 professionals from the financial services sectors as well as Fintech community to share experience and explore next-level collaboration. From Wealthtech, Insurtech, Greentech to A.I. and DLT, and to data excellence and cybersecurity. And the list goes on.
19. “Fintech Connect” is another platform to foster cross-sector partnerships. It offers excellent opportunities to share innovative solutions, build partnerships, and support the growing Fintech community.  This network now connects over 200 banks and technology service providers in Hong Kong and Qianhai, with 40 matching partnerships so far.  You are warmly invited to join Fintech Connect if you have not done so.
20. More recently, the HKMA is working with a few like-minded central banks and regulators to embark on a joint research into an explainable A.I. toolkit.
21. This research, called Project Noor, aims to develop a bespoke A.I. model auditing prototype, equipping banks and regulators with the transparency, metrics, and workflows needed to oversee A.I.-powered banking operations. We will be engaging the banking industry and Fintech community on this over the next 12 months. 

Closing

22. Looking ahead, we remain committed to responsible innovation and sustainable collaboration. We are now developing a comprehensive blueprint based on insights from our recent Tech Maturity Stock-take, shaping a clear strategy for advancing Fintech in Hong Kong.  Stay tuned!
23. FILAP exemplifies this collaborative approach by bringing Fintech start-ups to have close dialogue with industry mentors, accelerating these firms’ readiness to meet market needs.
24. Industry engagement like this one is essential for the interactive and iterative process of responsible innovation. And through collaboration, we are also laying a sustainable foundation for a safe and efficient Fintech ecosystem.
25. Thank you.