Programme

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The quest for cheaper, faster, more transparent and accessible cross-border payments has become a central focus for policymakers and financial institutions worldwide. At the forefront of this initiative is the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, setting ambitious targets on speed, cost, transparency and accessibility by the end of 2027, while also prioritising safety and financial inclusion globally.

In tandem with this global effort, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) introduced Project Nexus in 2021, an innovative initiative aimed at reshaping the landscape of cross-border payments. Through Nexus, the BIS has developed a multilateral and standardised approach in connecting fast payment systems globally to enable instant and seamless cross-border payments. Over the past two years, Project Nexus has conducted a successful proof-of-concept with the fast payment systems in the Eurozone, Malaysia, and Singapore. Notably, it has also facilitated collaboration among five Southeast Asian countries to link their fast payment systems.

With the completion of Phase III of Project Nexus, it promises to reveal ground-breaking advancements towards establishing a global multilateral payments platform. This upcoming roundtable presents a rare opportunity for attendees to gain insights into the blueprint for this pioneering cross-border payments model. With the potential to revolutionise the current state of the global financial market infrastructure, Project Nexus is poised to redefine the future of cross-border transactions.

Following the passing of the EU AI Act, this is the latest in a series of convenings on the exploration of Generative AI (GenAI) in the financial services. In this session, regulators join industry leaders from finance and tech to track the shift in industry sentiments and happenings to consider new risks and calls for collaboration in establishing AI governance frameworks.   

The first roundtable on GenAI held at the Point Zero Forum last year broadly explored what it will take for the responsible use of GenAI in the industry. A subsequent paper published considered the need for additional guardrails and considered preparations financial institutions could take in preparation for GenAI implementation. 

Later in the year, stakeholders once again gathered at the Singapore FinTech Festival. The conversation built upon Singapore's Project MindForge, which sought to develop a risk framework for the use of GenAI in the financial sector. Stakeholders agreed to the need for industry collaboration to establish minimum standards and trust, and inform frameworks that will address issues surrounding data, cybersecurity, privacy and more. 

The current conversation will take this a step forward, considering the new risks posed by GenAI, novel mitigation approaches, and referencing case studies on successful industry-government collaborations to chart the course forward on AI governance.  

The BIS Innovation Hub Eurosystem Centre, Singapore Centre, together with the central banks of France, Italy, Malaysia, and Singapore are further exploring how FX will look like in a world of digital money.

The discussion will support this work, with the objective to:

• Promote understanding and share insights on the integration of digital currencies in the FX market. 
• Identify challenges and explore opportunities presented by the intersection of FX, DeFi, and wholesale CBDCs. 
• Encourage collaboration among stakeholders to shape a forward-looking FX framework that accommodates digital innovations. 

In the past year, arguments have been had, points made and sides chosen between Teams Banking and Crypto.

Team Crypto threw down the gauntlet in the first Oxford-style debate we held at Point Zero Forum last year, lauding the real-life implementations and impact stablecoins have had in expanding financial inclusion and heralding an age of internet-scale composable and programmable money. In the same breath, they highlighted deposit tokens' limitations in addressing the last mile and expanding financial security on a global scale.

On the other side of the table, Team Banking countered by underscoring the limited assets stablecoins are constrained by, stating instead the ability of tokenised deposits to enable efficient transactions and support a wide range of financial industry use cases safely.

Observers then gave both teams credit for their arguments; but Team Crypto gained a slight edge during a second debate at the Singapore FinTech Festival later in the year, winning the audience's popular vote.

This is a not-to-be-missed Grand Finale to the Digital Currency Trilogy.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations are increasingly central to business viability in the long term. Against this backdrop, the integration of ESG insightsinto operational and financing decisioning has emerged as a critical area of focus for businesses seeking to align their financial strategies with sustainability goals.

In these conversations, held across past iterations of the Point Zero Forum, the Singapore FinTech Festival and the Japan Fintech Festival, data continuously emerges as a linchpin. Yet, unclear pathway of ESG data translating into quantifiable balance sheet outcomes, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) activation, lack of data availability, consistency and comparability remain as key challenges, alongside other hurdles including regulatory misalignment and greenwashing risk.

In this roundtable, regulators, financial leaders and businesses convene to find new pathways in collaborative action that can unlock the potential of technology in simplifying, consolidating and harmonising material sustainability data from operating entities, both small and large, to drive ESG goals and inform better decisions. Participants will identify existing barriers, and explore the platforms, policies and tools that will unlock inclusive and sustainable growth.

Exploring beyond the initial trials within unregulated environments, attention now turns to the potential integration of permissionless blockchain technology within regulated sectors. Delving into the realm of traditional financial institutions, this discussion will unveil the possibilities and advantages afforded by leveraging permissionless blockchain systems with their global accessibility and round-the-clock availability.

Key themes to be explored include enhanced efficiency, heightened trust, reduced costs, and improved usability. However, as with any new frontier, there are accompanying risks. Implementing permissionless blockchain as a transfer infrastructure introduces a spectrum of potential risks, ranging from operational to reputational and legal concerns. The roundtable will delve into strategies for mitigating these risks and whether they pose barriers to widespread adoption. Drawing insights from Switzerland's progressive DLT legislation, the aim is to identify actionable use cases that offer both innovation and tangible opportunities with manageable risks.

Facilitated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), this roundtable convenes stakeholders from supervisory bodies, financial institutions, and academia. Key discussion points will include identifying potential use cases for permissionless blockchain implementation within regulated sectors, assessing associated risks and opportunities, and delineating risk mitigation strategies necessary for successful adoption.

Leveraging AI for data analytics is increasingly becoming a staple in organisational strategies, yet the journey is far from complete. In this vein, the BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre and Swiss National Bank have recently launched Project Neo to explore how more frequent and granular data from novel sources combined with advanced analytic technologies can help central banks better fulfil their mandates. Project Neo aims to ensure that central bank policymaking decisions are grounded in timely and precise intelligence.

 The discussion will delve into:

• The transformative impact of AI on data analytics, particularly in forecasting, economic analysis, risk management, reporting, and decision-making processes.
• The multifaceted challenges of AI integration, spanning technological consideration to the organisational adaptation.

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, the concept of tokenisation is helping to reshape traditional financial instruments issued by sovereign entities such as governments and international organisations. This transformative potential is exemplified by Project Promissa, a collaboration between the BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, the Swiss National Bank, and the World Bank (with the International Monetary Fund as an observer). Project Promissa aims to build a platform to facilitate digital "tokenised" promissory notes, that multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and the IMF, rely on to raise funds from their members.

The roundtable discussion will explore:

• The transformative impact of tokenising sovereign financial instruments, such as liquidity, accessibility, transparency, and efficiency.
• The multifaceted challenges of tokenisation, ranging from technical aspects such as security, privacy and interoperability, to regulation and compliance and coordination between diverse actors in the financial markets.

Financial services have much at stake and much to contribute to the AI technology and standards work currently underway; however, FS firms and their regulators are not necessarily at the center of the debate. Financial grade validation and trust are essential for new developments in GenAI and LLM to be fully employed for customer facing use cases in financial services. The increasing move to third party models and technology development outside the firewall are challenging the well-established governance frameworks FIs had put in place for predictive AI and machine learning. At the same time, existing data and cloud access frameworks are integral to determining how AI develops, is accessed, and the outcomes it delivers for the economy.

Moving forward, links between roles, standards, technology design, and data frameworks will determine the trajectory for AI development and outcomes across markets. This roundtable led by the Institute for International Finance will convene industry leaders, technical experts, and policy makers in a dialogue to identify key points and links between technology design and development, standards and regulations, the path for adoption, and the prospects for deployments.