The Singapore FinTech Festival 2021 (SFF 2021) will take place from Nov 8 to 12 with a mix of digital and physical events, says the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Aug 4.

The Edge Singapore is one of the official media partners for the event.

Themed “Web 3.0”, the festival will bring together global experts to discuss how the future of financial services will be powered by Web 3.0 and key technological advances.

The first three days of the SFF 2021 will feature a hybrid conference and exhibition.

On Nov 11 and 12, participants can attend global satellite events and industry events online and at physical locations.

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The conference, in particular, will look at three key structural drivers that could change the way financial services operate in the coming decade. This includes the re-configuration of financial products and services delivery through Embedded Finance (#EmFi), decentralised finance (#DeFi) and digital currencies, as well as the integrated of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles in the core design of financial services.

The festival will also organise deep-dive sessions to see how Web 3.0 technologies can be harnessed for more efficient financial intermediation. The sessions will also look into advancing key objectives such as green finance and financial inclusion.

This year, participants can expect to be immersed in an inclusive global programme with ‘live’ broadcasts featuring leading industry and government leaders around the world.

To be sure, the festival, in 2020, welcomed global leaders such as New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern; Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya; Bill Gates; and Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, just to name a few.

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Winners of the MAS Global FinTech Hackcelerator, Global CBDC Challenge will also be showcased at the SFF 2021.

In the same statement, the MAS announced that it will be incorporating a company limited by guarantee (CLG) to spearhead the future growth of the SFF.

The new entity, named Elevandi, will lead a series of new initiatives to provide year-long engagement with the global FinTech community.

The company’s mission is to foster open dialogue between the public and private sectors to harness FinTech for growth and development in the new digital economy.

Furthermore, the new entity will build a global knowledge and collaboration platform to bring together the global financial and FinTech community to address pain points in the workings of the financial system.

Elevandi will have an international board of directors comprising members from the public and financial services sectors, as well as global industry leaders. MAS’s chief FinTech officer, Sopnendu Mohanty will be one of Elevandi’s directors.

The SFF 2021 is organised in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and in collaboration with Constellar Exhibitions, a subsidiary of Constellar Holdings (formerly known as SingEx-Sphere Holdings).

“For the last five years, MAS has grown the SFF into a leading global platform for FinTech. It is now time for the SFF to further a global mission. Singapore has an important role to play as a knowledge centre and as a platform to enable greater collaboration and exchange between the public and private sectors around the world,” says Mohanty.

During the week of the SFF 2021, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) will also host the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH).

Photo: Bloomberg