Executive programme on navigating the future of finance

This programme is designed to help senior executives in traditional and digital banks, technology companies, entrepreneurs, and founders of fintech firms navigate the future of finance. Learn from a team of highly experienced futurists, bankers, technologists and researchers with incredible insights into the technologies and geo-political realities taking place today.

The training covers all areas of banking— balance sheet, capital, credit, products, risk and regulation, technologies, distribution channels, payments and related infrastructure—and ties them to the latest developments in platforms, tokens, wallets and decentralised finance. Learn how these are applied to the metaverse in gaming and virtual reality. The program helps participants identify new scenarios as they shape their own future.

The programme is an amazing investment that involves a two-day MasterClass, one day site visits supported by reading materials and podcasts. You'll be inducted into a community and will have access to the faculty and cohorts for discussions and updates over a year, with training, mentoring, benchmarking, and consulting advice based on solid research. The course utilizes compelling case studies, data, and insights in simulations and discussions to crystallize ideas. It also leverages participants' experience to develop actionable ideas for your respective institutions.

The Programme

The programme is made up of a two-day MasterClass, but also includes a one-year membership to the following

  • Two-day MasterClass – the agenda as listed below
  • One year membership to The Future Bank Working Group

Monthly updates

Research data

Video interviews and presentations

Recordings of all MasterClass sessions

Peers chat-group with other members

Links to third party sources

The Agenda

09:00 – 10:00

Introductions and objective-setting

In the first session, we will establish the issues faced by each participant and the biases on the future of finance that each carries. We will also review some of the reading material provided ahead of the programme.

10:00 – 11:00

Key Trends in Banking Today – Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature

In this session, we will discuss the four important trends shaping banking today—on the balance sheet, technology, digital platforms, and networks—and map them to the more specific trends in your region or business. We will examine the reasons for the failures of Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic from a technology perspective. We will also examine the impact of technologies, especially on the AI front, such as ChatGPT.

11:00 – 12:00

A study of the most and least successful digital banks in the world

A deep dive into the reasons for success and failure of digital banks worldwide. We will identify issues familiar to your business. We will look at their products, the markets in which they serve and outline the trends that drive the industry.

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch

13:00 – 14:30

Technology infrastructure, operational resilience and competitive advantage

In this session, we will start with the core focus of technology—operational resilience in the face of digital transformation. We will also discuss the different IT vendor propositions that exist today as they guide banks in transitioning from mainframes to cloud. At the same time, we examine the strategic intents of technology: industrialisation versus digitalisation, the zero marginal cost theory, and platforms to personalisation. We will also discuss the development of application programming interfaces (APIs), peer-to-peer platforms and user-developed applications. The session ends with a discussion on internalising the technology infrastructure priorities for your bank or company.

14:30 - 16:00

Payments strategies and the impact of digital wallets

Payments is the most disrupted area in banking today. Innovations in payments have resulted in strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth in some marketplaces. We first explore the most important developments that have taken place in payments around the world and distill the information down to strategies that are most appropriate for your marketplace. We also look at digital wallets, often introduced by disruptors and devise counter-intuitive strategies.

16:00 – 17:30

Decentralised finance

This session examines everything that is happening in blockchains, platforms, cryptocurrencies and the metaverse, and come to an understanding of how your institution wants to tackle the challenges they present.


09:00 – 10:30

Optimum organisational structure in a digital world

Here we discuss the different ways in which banks and bank holding companies are structured today, and the issues they are dealing with at the business and infrastructure levels. We compare legacy organisations with new-age disruptors to outline how organisations can take advantage of the digital dividend in finance. We discuss where the different businesses are situated and their interaction with each other. We will also discuss resistance to digitalisation from functional groups such as risk and compliance. Once again, we distill the session down to a sense of the most optimum structure that can work for your organisation.

10:30 – 12:00

The board, the regulator and applying for a digital banking license

Based on our faculty’s experience in applying for digital banking licences in different jurisdictions, this session is designed to outline the relationship with regulators. It starts with an overview of regulatory regimes globally and the issues regulators are most concerned about.

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch

13:00 – 14:30

Talent management and investing in innovation and disruptive changes

How does a bank mobilise its people to take on the innovation journey? Where in a bank should investments in innovation sit? What are the different ways a bank can invest in innovation in their respective markets, and how can a bank onboard these innovations?

14:30 – 16:00

Integrated risk in a digital business – credit, operation and funding

After discussing organisational structures, we zero in on the ability of the institution to manage the three areas of risk—what does it mean to take on an integrated approach to risk? We also discuss the role of the treasurer in a digital world. We discuss how asset and liability management (ALM), funds-transfer pricing, and other treasury functions are ripe for a revolution. We also look at environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and examine how the products may have to change in the light of new digital challenges.

16:00 – 17:30

Sustainable strategies in a changing world

We conclude the programme by presenting strategies for various marketplace realities. Participants will also be required to personalise strategies applicable to their respective institutions. These will be documented and presented as a report to each participant within two weeks after the session.


Complimentary Site Visits (for the Singapore edition)

09:00 – 10:30

A briefing from the regulators

A visit to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a briefing on the ecosystem, incentives and regulations in place to develop Singapore as a financial center. There will be a lot of ground to cover.

10:30 – 12:00

A visit to a neo-digital bank

A visit to Grab headquarters for a briefing on its overall strategy in integrating financial services into its powerful regional platform.

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch

13:00 – 14:30

SC Ventures – the Global VC arm of Standard Chartered Bank

We will visit what is likely the most successful venture capital arm of a traditional global bank and observe the internal culture and the combination of skills that have been brought together to grow and scale its portfolio of investments.

14:30 – 16:00

A*STAR - Leading in research on AI, data analytics and cybersecurity

A visit to one of the foremost state-sponsored technology incubator centers in the world to receive a briefing on leading-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects that are underway to understand how the engineers and scientists involved in these projects build their applications.

16:00 – 17:30

Building trust and empowering customers in the decentralized economy - Visit to Cake DeFi

We visit the development center of a successful decentralized finance player with multiple products to secure a briefing on how these disruptors actually work and how they are scaling their business models even during periods of a crypto winter.

*The proposed sites are subject to confirmation and change based on various factors.

Your Faculty

A programme of this nature can only be presented by highly experienced professionals who have been entrenched in the industry over many years.

Emmanuel Daniel
Emmanuel Daniel
Founder, The Asian Banker,
Wealth and Society
Wilson Chia
Wilson Chia
Banking Consultant/ Advisor
Axel Winter
Axel Winter
Chief Digital & Technology Officer,
Partner, & Advisor
Christian Kapfer
Christian Kapfer
Research Director,
The Asian Banker

Who should attend this MasterClass?

This programme is designed for:

Board members, chief executives of banks making the transition into digital finance

Digital Bankers looking to create new opportunities in their respective markets

Entrepreneurs and co-founders of new fintechs

Technology players building transformational platforms, products and services in finance

Business, research and technology analysts

The Investment

US$ 6,000 US$ 4,000

Early Bird PRICE (30 June 2023)

  • 2-day the Future Bank MasterClass
  • Complimentary One-day Study Tour in Singapore
  • 3 night hotel accommodation
  • One year's Membership to the Future Bank Working Group
    • Monthy Updates, Supporting Research Data, Case Studies, Video Interviews, Recording of MasterClass sessions, Chat group with other members and links to third party sources
  • The "Certified Future Bank Strategist" Certificate

(upon sucessful attendance to two Group Chat Sessions and one video interviews in the year)

In house version

We are able to run an in-house version of this programme specific to your institution. We will prepare an in-depth research and SWOT analysis on your institution and marketplace so the programme will be tailored to the realities of your marketplace. It can be designed in the form of training modules or a workshop for your board members and senior managers.

Contact us to design a programme that best suits your need.

Register Today