Several Fintech Week events are scheduled to occur in the coming months in Germany, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and San Francisco, promising to gather global fintech leaders and industry participants to share insights on the state of the industry.  For a Swiss Fintech Week we are still waiting…

The Fintech Week Hamburg will take place in the German city from November 06 to 12, 2017 and will bring together numerous industry participants to cover topics related to fintech.

The Fintech Week Hamburg aims to provide the framework for a diverse program of different experts from fintech, banking and corporate consultancy. The platform will enable industry participants, experts and enthusiasts to connect, share, network and learn from one another.

About 30 sessions and events will be organized specifically for fintech companies and banks, in addition to startups/investors networking sessions, and consumer oriented events. Hamburg Fintech Week is set to bring together some 2,000 participants.

Topics covered will include the evolution of asset and wealth management, “the next generation of financial services providers,” and fintech in Asia, among others.

The event comes at a time when the German fintech scene is growing rapidly with numerous homegrown startups gaining international recognition.

Currently, Germany’s top fintech locations in terms of number of startups and venture capital investment are Berlin with over 170 startups and €734 million in investment between 2012 and 2016, Munich with more than 60 startups and €155 million in investment, and Hamburg with over 50 startups and €212 million raised.

Image credit: A panoramic view of the Hamburg skyline of the Binnenalster taken from Lombardsbrücke, via Wikimedia Common

The Fintech Week Hamburg is unrelated to the Fintech Week series organized by Fintech Worldwide, a company based in London that run conferences, exhibitions, workshops, hackathons, meetups and parties, each focused on a different topic that take place all over the world. Fintechworldwide is organizing Fintech and Blockchain Weeks in Tel Aviv, London and Toronto.

The concept of a “Fintech Week” has been applied all around the world in locations that include New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Dublin, Amsterdam, India, Washington D.C, Chicago and Tel Aviv.

In October, a similar event will be taking place in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Fintech Week, organized by InvestHK, will occur from October 23 to 27, and will cover startups funding in IPO, China fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, regtech, insurtech and wealthtech, among other hot topics.

Speakers will include representatives from the likes of Dianrong, Ant Financial, Deloitte, Baker McKenzie, Goldman Sachs, Finnovasia, NexChange, and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, among others.

Then in November the Singapore Fintech Festival kicks off for the 2nd time. More then 10’000 attendees will be expected for this festival. MAS as an organizer (Imagine the Swiss FINMA would organize a Swiss Fintech week!)  bringing you exciting discussions, stimulating demos and insightful debates over the period of 13-17 November 2017.

On this week we will also expect to get some news regarding ICO Regulation in Singapore.

ICOs have raised more than US$2 billion this year so far despite a recent major crackdown by authorities in China. Yet, ICO activity continues to rise with some of the largest fundraising taking place in Switzerland.

Out of the six largest token sales, four were hosted in Switzerland, according to a PwC Strategy& report, highlighting the growing local cryptocurrency and blockchain scene.

These ICOs are Tezos, which raised over US$238 million, Bancor, with US$156 million, The DAO, US$142 million, and Status, US$95 million.

…. So what about a Crypto and Blockchain Week in Switzerland together with the FINMA Zurich Fintech week?  This would help to position Switzerland as on of the Top Fintech Countries.