The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) has partnered with Aliv to host its annual Fintech (financial technology) seminar on July 26 at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel.

Featuring both local and international speakers, the event will cover topics such as The Bahamas tech hub and digitisation; Transforming the financial services sector; The Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Bill 2019; Evolution of financial instruments; Fintech on-boarding standards; Protecting your digital assets; The Bahamas digital currency;The Bahamas digital asset toolkit and ecosystem.

Tanya McCartney, BFSB’s chief executive and executive director, said: “With the government’s commitment to creating a technology hub in Grand Bahama, the provision of incentives under the Commercial Enterprises Act and pending legislation to regulate some Fintech activity, the jurisdiction is ideally suited to attract investment and attain success in the Fintech space.”

Fintech, which is the combination of technology and finance, is revolutionising the financial services sector by causing significant disruption to existing structures and business models. It also affecting the way individuals relate to their personal finances and commerce.

Fintech, and particularly blockchain, are seen as having the potential to improve financial access, transforming the ways in which we attract and service both domestic and international clientele.

The government and regulators, together with the private sector, are working on the drafting of policies and rules to facilitate Fintech’s growth in The Bahamas. These efforts are intended to create regulatory regimes for the emerging blockchain technology and cryptocurrency sector.

The BFSB said in a statement that these forces present an opportunity for The Bahamas, as an international financial centre (IFC), to be one of the first in the world with a regulated framework for crypto exchanges and assets, including digital currencies, and other blockchain-based financial products such as virtual securities tokens and commodity-backed digital tokens.