Introduction to FinTech

Established in 1911, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is the territory’s oldest institute of higher learning. For more than a century, the University has committed itself to creating knowledge, providing education, and serving society. It has grown with Hong Kong and generations of our graduates have helped shape the city from which the university takes its name. Today, HKU is internationally renowned as a research-led comprehensive university, with frontier research endeavors and scholarly achievements that have won it worldwide acclaim.

As a leading international institution of higher learning in Asia, HKU strives to attract and nurture outstanding scholars from around the world through its excellence and innovation in teaching and learning, research and knowledge exchange, and its contributions to the advancement of society and the development of leaders through global presence, regional significance, and engagement with the rest of China.

Meet your Instructors

Douglas Arner

Douglas W. Arner is the Kerry Holdings Professor in Law at the University of Hong Kong and Project Coordinator of a major five-year project funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Theme-based Research Scheme on “Enhancing Hong Kong’s Future as a Leading International Financial Centre”. In addition, he is Director of the HKU LLM in Compliance and Regulation, and a Senior Visiting Fellow of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. Douglas is a member of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council and an Executive Committee Member of the Asia Pacific Structured Finance Association. Douglas has served as a consultant with, among others, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, APEC, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Islamic Financial Services Board and Development Bank of Southern Africa. He has lectured, co-organised conferences and seminars and been involved with financial sector reform projects in over 20 economies in Africa, Asia and Europe. He has been a visiting professor or fellow at Duke University, the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research, the Interdisciplinary Centre – Herzliya, McGill University, Melbourne University, National University of Singapore, University of New South Wales, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Zurich University, among others.

Douglas served as Head of the Department of Law of the University of Hong Kong from 2011 to 2014 and from 2006 to 2011 he was the Director of the Faculty’s Asian Institute of International Financial Law, which he co-founded in 1999 along with the LLM in Corporate and Financial Law (of which he serves as Director). He was Co-Director of the Duke University-HKU Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law from 2005 to 2016 and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Australian Centre for International Finance and Regulation from 2010-2016. In 2007, he received HKU’s Outstanding Young Researcher Award and served as Convenor of HKU’s Law, Policy and Development Strategic Research Theme from 2008-2012. Before joining HKU in 2000, he was the Sir John Lubbock Support Fund Fellow at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary College, University of London.

Janos Barberis

Janos Barberis has an established track record in the FinTech industry (32nd Most Powerfull Dealmaker, Institutional Investor) and Academia (13th legal scholar in world, SSRN) and is driven to deliver actionable foresight. His area of focus on FinTech Regulation and RegTech Developments and emerging trends. Academically, he developed the world’s leading research which is directly used by regulators for policy design. Professionally, he has founded SuperCharger, Asia’s leading FinTech accelerator sponsored by Tier 1 clients and strong of an alumni network of 26 companies, which have raised in excess of US$370million. Finally, he co-edited, The FinTech Book, a global bestseller, covering 60 experts with over 20,000 copies distributed in 106 countries and 6 languages and is due to release three more titles in Q1 of 2018, including the world’s first book on RegTech.

In last 3 years, he has completed over 100 keynotes (i.e. SIBOS), private client workshops (i.e Natixis), professional training (i.e. CFA), regulators consultations (i.e. ADB) and online lectures (i.e. HKU). His work is regularly cited by the media (i.e. Forbes), industry (i.e. E&Y) or governments (i.e. FSB). He holds several board appointments (i.e. WEF, SFC) has published over a dozen academic article and is published in 5 books.

Huy Nguyen Trieu

Huy Nguyen Trieu is co-founder of the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship. He is also the CEO of The Disruptive Group – a business builder and advisory firm in innovation and finance. Prior to The Disruptive Group, Huy was a Managing Director at Citi, and previously at RBS and SG. Before banking, he was the CEO of Ukibi, a VC-funded startup in the US. He is a frequent keynote speaker in Europe and Asia, likes to teach and share with students and entrepreneurs, and is regularly quoted in articles on innovation and finance. He writes the blog Disruptive Finance, is a Fintech Fellow at the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College, an Entrepreneurship Expert at Oxford Said Entrepreneurship Centre. He is also a member of ESMA’s Consultative Working Group for financial innovation and a founding member of the Asian SuperCharger, one of the largest Fintech accelerators in Asia.

Ross Buckley

Ross Buckley is King & Wood Mallesons Professor of International Finance Law, and a Scientia Professor, at UNSW Sydney, and Series Co-Editor of the Global Trade Law Series and International Banking and Finance Law Series, of Wolters Kluwer of The Hague. His research focus is FinTech, RegTech and blockchain and the enabling regulation of digital financial services in developing countries. He consults regularly to the Asian Development Bank, and has consulted to government departments in Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the U.S. He has been twice a Fulbright Scholar, and frequently a half-bright scholar.