The Bank of Lithuania and the National Bank of Ukraine have joined forces in order to develop the FinTech industry in both countries. The two institutions signed an agreement detailing their cooperation in the area of innovation development during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group held in Nusa Dua, Indonesia last week.
The agreement will allow both central banks to exchange experiences in FinTech regulation and supervision, explore joint innovation projects on the application of key technologies, such as digital and mobile payments, blockchain and distributed ledgers, big data, flexible platforms (API) and other areas of new technology.
“Given the avid interest from our Ukrainian counterparts and the knowledge we have acquired as part of our successful cooperation with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, we stand ready to share the best practices in developing a FinTech-conducive regulatory environment, providing consultations to innovation-oriented market participants and paving the way for more convenient mobile payments,” announced Vitas Vasiliauskas, chairman of the board of the Bank of Lithuania.
FinTech issues were included in the agenda of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in view of the IMF’s aim to play an active part in the field of financial innovation. The IMF is seeking to foster a more unified and coordinated international approach to FinTech-related issues, and has come up with a blueprint to harnessing FinTech’s opportunities.
Development of a regulatory and supervisory ecosystem conducive to the provision of financial services, as well as fostering innovation in the financial sector is one of the Bank of Lithuania’s strategic directions for 2017–2020. Together with other domestic institutions, the Bank of Lithuania aims to ensure that Lithuania becomes the major FinTech hub in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
“We are pleased to expand our fruitful cooperation with the Bank of Lithuania in the direction of innovation in finance,” added Yakiv Smolii, the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine. “I am confident that the Bank of Lithuania will achieve its strategic goal and become the main FinTech hub in the Nordic and Baltic region. A lot has already been done to achieve this, and we will be glad to take on the successful experience of our Lithuanian colleagues. In turn, one of the strategic goals of the national bank is financial inclusion, a qualitative breakthrough offered by modern technologies – digital, online and mobile financial services. Our goal is to achieve the greater financial inclusiveness of Ukrainian society.”
[…] News came this past week that the Bank of Lithuania and the National Bank of Ukraine, as noted in Emerging Europe, have linked with the aim of developing FinTech landscapes stretching across both countries. The […]