Fintech Industry Dialogue: Retail CBDC in Hong Kong

Mr. Nelson CHOW
Chief Fintech Officer
Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Mr Nelson Chow has been appointed to the present position from 1 September 2016 with responsibilities for facilitating the healthy development of the fintech ecosystem in Hong Kong and promoting Hong Kong as a fintech hub in Asia. He joined the HKMA in 2004 and was responsible for the supervision of banks’ technology risk management and business continuity planning as well as the formulation of related policies and guidelines. He was the Deputy Chief Representative of the New York Office in 2010. After returning to Hong Kong in 2013, he took up responsibilities to supervise banks’ operational risk management and perform macro-prudential data analysis. Prior to joining the HKMA, Mr Chow was a Vice President of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. responsible for information risk management of the Asia Pacific region.

Mr. Vincent Lau
Global Head of Emerging Payments Product
Global Payments Solutions
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

Vincent is currently the Global Head of Emerging Payments Product at HSBC Global Payments Solutions (GPS). In this role, Vincent leads HSBC’s digital currencies and emerging payments collaborations with clients, central banks and industry consortiums globally. Vincent is responsible for building HSBC’s wholesale payments and settlement capabilities leveraging emerging technologies and infrastructures for institutional and commercial customers.

Vincent is currently based in Hong Kong and is an appointed member of the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) Policy Research Committee, as well as a member of the Hong Kong Financial Secretary’s Digital Economy Development Committee (DEDC) Digital Transformation Subgroup. As part of his global remit, Vincent also leads HSBC GPS’s efforts in supporting the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)’s CBDC explorations, including Project mBridge, Project e-HKD, and Tokenised Green Bond Project.

A seasoned transaction banker, Vincent started his digital banking journey with the launch of HSBC’s wholesale electronic banking platform HSBCnet, and had held various transaction banking management roles across HSBC, Citibank, and ANZ, covering Payments, Liquidity Management, Cards, Receivables, Supply Chain Finance, and Digital Currencies businesses globally. Vincent holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He receives his Masters Degrees, in Information Economics from University of Michigan School of Information, and E-Business Management from The Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School.

Ms. Jennifer Tan
Executive Vice President
Strategy Development and Government Affairs, GBA of Ant Group

Jennifer is the Chief Executive of Alipay Financial Services (HK) Limited and the Executive Vice President – Strategy Development and Government Affairs, GBA of Ant Group. She is also recently appointed as the Program Head of 10x1000 Tech for Inclusion which is a philanthropic initiative launched jointly by the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group and Ant Group.

Jennifer holds an MBA from the University of Warwick and is a fellow member of ACCA, ICAEW and HKICPA. She is a highly respected accounting professional and Fintech leader who has taken on senior management roles for over two decades. In 2021, she was winner of the Outstanding Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Award and was named by the Fintech Magazine as one of Fintech’s Top 100 Leaders in a global league table. In 2019, she was named ACCA Advocate of the Year, both for Hong Kong and Greater China, and was the Chairlady of ACCA Hong Kong for 2021/22. She has also been elected as the ACCA Global Council Member for 2022-2025.

Jennifer is committed to driving the fintech development and is currently the member of various organisations and initiatives - the Policy Research Committee of Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council, the Hong Kong Academy of Finance and the Digital Banking and Payments Committee of Fintech Association of Hong Kong. Additionally, she is the ExCo Member of the FinTech Specialist Group of Hong Kong Computer Society.

Jennifer is active in voluntary community services especially with regard to the development of young people. She has been serving various universities in Hong Kong as a chairlady or member of the Advisory Committees. She is also a frequent speaker to students in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, helping the next generation to better prepare for future challenges and understand the career opportunities in Fintech.

Prof. TAM Kar Yan, MH, JP
Dean
HKUST Business School

Prof. Tam is the Dean of HKUST Business School. He is a founding member of the School and an accomplished information systems scholar.

Under his leadership, the HKUST Business School is moving ahead with several major academic plans including fintech and green finance. He is currently heading a team of cross-disciplinary scholars to work on a major fintech project funded by the Research Grants Council under the Hong Kong Government.

Prof. Tam has also played an active role in promoting academia-business collaborations and startups. He is committed to public service and appointed to a number of education and policy groups, including the Curriculum Development Council (Chairman), Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (Chairman), and the Hong Kong Productivity Council. Prof. Tam received his PhD from Purdue University, specializing in Big Data and Electronic Commerce.