Fintech Association of Sri Lanka explained

FinTech Association of Sri Lanka (FASL) is an independent, not-for-profit cross-industry organisation representing Sri Lankan and the global FinTech community to support the development, innovation and investment in the FinTech sector.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

FASL is closely collaborating with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on fintech-related issues; and a number of fintech events related to FASL were represented by CBSL.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

History

Establishing ‘Fintech Association of Sri Lanka’ was initiated at the ‘Fintech Meetup’ of the ‘Asia-Pacific Executives Forum’ which was held at Hilton Colombo in 2018; where the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Assistant Governor also participated and delivered a speech on regulatory role of Central Bank on Fintech.^{[10] [11]}

Governance

FASL is governed by an executive committee that consists of a president, vice president, general secretary and other committee members. The executive committee is advised by an advisory board consisting of industry experts.^[12]

Collaborations

• FASL is an MoU-signed partner of the Fintech Associations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.^{[13] [14] [15]} and ASEAN Financial Innovation Network.^{[13] [16]}
• FASL was a community partner, supporter institution or regional co-organiser for various fintech summits in the region including Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Mumbai, Dubai, Colombo including Singapore FinTech Festival, Hong Kong FinTech Week and Asia Smart App Awards.^{[13] [14] [17] [18] [19]}
• FASL is an ecosystem partner of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Innovation Hub and Elevandi, an independent organisation created by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
• FASL partnered a fintech seminar, hosted by The University of Hong Kong.^{[14] [20] [21] [22]}
• FASL organised regular Fintech workshops (based on HKU FinTech of The University of Hong Kong) at Hilton Colombo.^{[14] [23] [24] [25]}
• FASL organised ‘Lithuanian fintech meetup’ in Colombo in collaboration with the Lithuanian Embassy in New Delhi and HatchX, a fintech accelerator in Sri Lanka.^[26]
• FASL has launched an initiative to draft a report titled, ‘Enhancing Colombo International Financial City (Port City Colombo) as a Leading Fintech Hub in South Asia’ to submit to the President of Sri Lanka; the initiative is being assisted by a number of fintech experts globally and Professor Douglas Arner, Kerry Holdings Professor in Law at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) as the chief consultant.^[27] An interim report was released in July, 2024 where it's highlighted the initiative would support establishing a 'Fintech Innovation Hub' in the Colombo International Financial Centre (CIFC) and it could become a strategic hub in the South Asian region by attracting diverse multimillion-dollar investments; and the hub could function facilitating innovation, partnerships and global expansion for South Asian fintech startups in collaboration with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Innovation Hub and Singapore fintech ecosystem.^[28]
• FASL organised a lecture on ‘Introduction to Artificial Intelligence’ at Little Flower Convent, Karampon, Jaffna with the resource support from HKU FINTECH (of the University of Hong Kong) and ELEVANDI, an independent organisation created by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). FASL’s lecture was in view of the Ministry of Education (Sri Lanka) in March, 2024 announcing integrating AI and Machine Learning (ML) into Sri Lanka’s National School Curriculum; the initiative was planned to be rolled out to twenty schools initially representing at least one school from each of the nine provinces to serve as a benchmark for scalability across the country.^[29]

See also

• Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL)

External links

• Official Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Lanka to host 'Asia Fintech Night' in Dec.. February 22, 2023. Daily News (Sri Lanka). July 7, 2020.
2. Web site: Sri Lanka:CBSL to Introduce Fintech Regulatory Framework . February 22, 2023 . Regulation Asia . October 6, 2020.
3. Web site: 【Global Partnership】Fintech Association of Japan concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with FinTech Association of Sri Lanka. February 22, 2023. Fintech Association of Japan. October 7, 2019.
4. Web site: University of Hong Kong and Standard Chartered Bank launch HKU-SCF FinTech Academy. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. May 26, 2020.
5. Web site: FinTech Association of Sri Lanka. February 22, 2023. Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
6. Web site: Fintech Association of Sri Lanka holds awareness workshop. February 24, 2023. Daily FT. January 24, 2019.
7. Web site: Promoting fintech. February 24, 2023. Daily FT. May 7, 2019.
8. Web site: FASL and SFA sign MOU in Singapore. February 24, 2023. Daily FT. April 26, 2019.
9. Web site: 'Chain Plus: Asia-Pacific Blockchain New Finance Summit' held in Singapore. February 24, 2023. Daily FT. April 24, 2019.
10. Web site: Fintech Meetup of Asia-Pacific Executives Forum held at Hilton Colombo. February 24, 2023. Daily FT. August 10, 2018.
11. Web site: Fintech Meetup of the Asia-Pacific Executives Forum held. February 24, 2023. Daily News (Sri Lanka). July 31, 2018.
12. Web site: FASL. February 22, 2023. Fintech Association of Sri Lanka.
13. Web site: Channa De Silva appointed adviser to FASL. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. July 8, 2021.
14. Web site: Jeevan Gnanam appointed adviser to FASL. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. January 30, 2020.
15. Web site: FASL and FTAHK signs MOU in Hong Kong. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. 25 June 2019.
16. Web site: FASL and AFTECH sign MoU in Colombo to promote fintech. April 13, 2024. Daily FT. March 25, 2020.
17. Web site: FinX Awards 2019 a success. February 24, 2023. Daily FT. 9 October 2019.
18. Web site: Hong Kong Fintech Week to begin on November 4. February 24, 2023. Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). October 17, 2019.
19. Web site: Dr. Mohamed Irshad appointed as coordinator of FASL and FinTech courses. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. July 1, 2019.
20. Web site: HKU host seminar on STO and RET. February 22, 2023. Daily News (Sri Lanka). 27 June 2019.
21. Web site: Hong Kong seminar focuses on STO landscapes in HK, Singapore and Sri Lanka. February 22, 2023. The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) via PressReader. 8 July 2019.
22. Web site: Real Estate Tokenization - Challenges and Opportunities in Hong Kong. February 22, 2023. University of Hong Kong. June 21, 2019.
23. Web site: FASL conducts 'Professional Certificate in Fintech and Blockchain'. February 22, 2023. The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) via PressReader. 4 November 2019.
24. Web site: FASL conducts 'Professional Certificate in Fintech and Blockchain'. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. 5 November 2019.
25. Web site: FASL completes fourth batch of 'Introduction to Fintech'. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. July 29, 2019.
26. Web site: Lithuanian fintech meetup in Colombo. February 22, 2023. Daily FT. December 21, 2021.
27. Web site: 2023-10-09. Colombo Int'l Financial City as top fintech hub - FASL. Daily News (Sri Lanka). en. 2023-10-24.
28. Web site: 2024-07-02. Interim report on Colombo Intl. Financial City as top Fintech hub. Daily FT. en. 2024-07-04.
29. Web site: 2024-07-23. Students of Karampon Little Flower Convent, Jaffna get introduction to AI. Daily FT. en. 2024-07-30.