Ep #58 with Huy Nguyen Trieu

Huy Nguyen Trieu is the author of the new book The AI-fication of Jobs. He is the co-founder along with Ms. Tram Anh Nguyen of the London-headquartered Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (or CFTE). As a global FinTech knowledge platform, CFTE opened its Abu Dhabi office earlier this year, in addition to its Singapore office.

A leading voice in the world of AI, Huy’s book is the product of 10 months of effort and debuted at the recent Singapore FinTech Festival in early-November 2024. It explores how AI is reshaping the workforce. It moves beyond the common question of “Will AI take my job?”

Huy shares with Regulatory Ramblings host Ajay Shamdasani how his book provides a structured framework for understanding AI's impact from displacement to augmentation and how such changes and trends can be leveraged for future success and insights. It is an accessible, future-focused guide and a must-read for anyone interested in AI’s role in shaping careers, industries, and society.

As Huy puts it: “AI is a complex, personal topic – 85 percent of workers believe it will significantly impact their jobs. But understanding what that means is often confusing.”

Huy goes on to describe his professional background, being an engineer by training and an entrepreneur by nature. As a "big picture" person, he’s interested in the revolution in technology that is transforming finance – what he calls Disruptive Finance.

His passion, he says, is for building and growing businesses – especially in changing environments. It led him from being a tech CEO in New York to being managing director at an investment bank in London to being a founding partner at a Hong Kong-based accelerator in Hong Kong and now, as co-founder of the CFTE.
Having previously, been a managing director at Citi, Huy grew a business that helped Europe's largest insurance companies, major pension funds and international banks to adapt to an increasingly complex environment.

He also adores teaching at scale, having co-created some of the largest FinTech courses in the world at Oxford University’s Said Business School, the University of Hong Kong University, Imperial College and now CFTE.

As CEO of The Disruptive Group, he’s developing a firm that builds innovative finance businesses which leverage technology and advises CEOs of large organizations. One of TDG's projects is the CFTE – and it is one that is dear to Huy’s heart, as he explains the impetus for the body’s creation.

“CFTE is the answer to a very simple question: as a professional in financial services, how do I acquire the skills to be future-proof?” Huy says. “We have created a platform that helps the industry acquire this knowledge quickly, from FinTech to artificial intelligence to open banking,” he concluded.

A key observation of the book is that AI and its massive impact on careers portends a shift that will give rise to a class of “supercharged professionals” – those who combine their skills with tech to thrive like never before. And then there are the “creative disruptors”; a select few poised to build entirely new industries from scratch. Huy urges us all to embrace this future, not just for ourselves, but to ensure the potential benefits of AI for everyone.

Regulatory Ramblings is led by Douglas Arner and brought to you by the HKU's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF Fintech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from the HKU Faculty of Law.

Read more details at: www.hkufintech.com

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.

Ep #57 with Eelee Lua, xcube

Eelee Lua is chief of staff and a director at xcube.co – a Singapore-based corporate venture studio. A seasoned business leader in the technology space, specializing in risk mitigation and strategic partnerships. Having entered the risk and compliance field 13 years ago, having previously held roles at AsiaVerify and the RISQ Group.

Eelee holds a board director accreditation from the Singapore Institute of Directors, and actively contributes to industry communities such as the Singapore FinTech Association and Women In Alliances.

Recently, she penned an article entitled “Circular Financial Identity – The Missing Piece for Financial Inclusion,” which forms the basis for this episode’s discussion.

In this instalment of Regulatory Ramblings, Eelee talks to host Ajay Shamdasani about her piece and how financial inclusion remains a critical global issue, with approximately 1.4 billion people still lacking access to formal financial services. She also shared a little about Defy, an xcube company on a mission to address financial inclusion. Her observation that traditional financial systems often exclude marginalized populations, such as low-income individuals, women, rural communities, and refugees was what compelled her to write the article. Financial exclusion not only limits economic opportunities but also perpetuates poverty.

Yet, all is not lost and Eelee believes technology may yet deliver true financial inclusion. A promising solution to bridge this gap is Circular Financial Identity (CFI), she says, “which has the potential to transform financial inclusion efforts worldwide.” The key, she says is understanding CFI because “unlike traditional digital identities that rely on static information and centralized databases, CFI employs a dynamic, decentralized, and interoperable system” – thereby enabling “under-documented individuals, including refugees, to gradually build their financial identity by capturing their digital financial footprint across various domains such as earning, spending, borrowing, saving, investing, and lending.”

The circularity of data, particularly, the continuous accumulation and reuse of financial data create a comprehensive, robust, and evolving picture of their financial behaviour and capabilities, enabling access to a broader range of financial services, Eelee says.

(For more details about CFI, visit: www.hkufintech.com/regulatoryramblings)

Eelee also shares a little about her own background, upbringing, education and what launched her on a path to a compliance career. She also describes what xcube does as well as her own “moment of epiphany” when she realized that the world of cryptocurrencies and digital assets were something important that she needed to pay attention to in the years to come.

Looking ahead, while she thinks Web3 will have a marked impact on banking Southeast Asia and the Middle East, she cautions that many of the world’s financial institutions have yet to consider the interoperability and integration issues of how to use such technologies in the current world.

A resolute believer in the power of targeted use of technology to aid the perennial global cause of financial inclusion and bring about a more egalitarian world with a more level playing field, the conversation concludes with her reflections on a decade plus in the risk and compliance field, and her greatest lessons, challenges and regrets in that time.

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.

Ep #56 with Chengyi Ong (Chainalysis)

Chengyi Ong leads public policy in the Asia-Pacific region for Chainalysis out of from the firm’s regional headquarters in Singapore. Drawing on Chainalysis’ blockchain data analytics platform, she works with public and private sector stakeholders to distil developments in digital asset markets, and their intersections with global and regional regulatory trends.

Prior to joining Chainalysis, Chengyi spent 13 years at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, holding roles in financial regulation and supervision, financial sector development, and central banking. She also served as the Advisor to the Executive Director for Southeast Asia at the International Monetary Fund.

In this episode of Regulatory Ramblings, she talks to host Ajay Shamdasani about the intersection of money laundering, financial crime and cryptocurrencies.

The conversation begins with Chengyi describing her upbringing, formative years, choice of career path and her time as a regulator at the MAS. She then goes on to talk about what Chainalysis does, its market position, and her interest in the digital asset sector.

She shares her views on the rising levels of both crypto native and non-crypto native money laundering, why such trends are growing and the types of crimes emanating from Asia – making reference to key findings from Chainalysis’ recent report on the matter, including the 2024 Crypto Crime Report and the 2024 Crypto Money Laundering Report.

Chengyi also discusses her thoughts on stablecoins being used for money laundering, what her firm’s report says about the destination of illicit funds and what the best ways are to prevent crypto native money laundering – especially in the Asia-Pacific. To that end, she is candid about what regional regulators should do to tackle this issue, noting that more needs to be done. What ensues is a deeper chat about what the role of regulators in ferreting out financial crime should be vis a vis cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions – the latter of which are financial gatekeepers in their own right.

The conversation concludes with Chengyi reflecting on the arc of her career and how AML regulations have evolved in APAC over the years. She stresses that in an age of aggressive enforcement actions, sanctions and not insubstantial fines, it will be imperative for organizations to verify the entities that are transacting and engaging with. She offers some suggestions as to how they may do so.

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.