Hong Kong kicks off fintech career accelerator scheme
Hong Kong careers towards fintech accelerator scheme
Fintech is coming on strong in Hong Kong with the unleashing of a career accelerator scheme to tap into the juicy veins of young blood.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) have launched their Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme (FCAS) induction day today (27 July), welcoming interns and the start of training days.
Howard Lee, senior executive director of the HKMA, says through the FCAS, “we hope to attract and train suitable talents in order to build a fintech talent pool for the banking industry”.
The HKMA and ASTRI held their first regulatory update and technical workshop respectively on the induction day, introducing the regulatory regimes and other relevant developments in financial and fintech regulations, and providing foundation fintech technical trainings to the FCAS interns to prepare them for internships.
The HKMA and ASTRI will hold more of these updates and workshops for the students during the internship period.
The 12 participating banks and the HKMA received over 3,000 applications from 421 students of ten tertiary institutions. On completion of the recruitment exercise, 74 students were successfully employed. These students will undertake internships for six months or one year to work on various fintech projects at the participating banks and the HKMA.
Hey scenesters!
Fintech rankings tend to put Hong Kong behind its regional rival of Singapore, and the former nation is keen to catch up. This latest career path plan joins the list of other notable developments.
Last month, the Fintech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK) officially launched “to champion an open, inclusive and diverse fintech community in Hong Kong”; and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) signed a co-operation agreement for financial innovation.
While last year, the HKMA announced plans to launch a regulatory sandbox and innovation hub as part of ambitions to boost its fintech brand.
Also in 2016, Banking Technology was invited to a tour of Hong Kong, given to the international media by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. That visit showed off some impressive infrastructure, talent and start-ups.
