Experts at a webinar on Tuesday discussed the evolution of fintech law and policy in Bangladesh and outlined the practical challenges involved in the process.
The discussion took place at the eighth installment of the Academy of Law and Policy (ALAP) webinar series “Evolution of Fintech: Law and Policy in Bangladesh”, said a media statement.
The webinar was streamed live from ALAP and Dhaka Tribune’s relevant Facebook pages.
The webinar started with the keynote presentation by Ms Nauriin Ahmed, advocate and senior associate at the Legal Circle.
The esteemed panelists were Mr Ahmed Jamal, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia, partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, and Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam, chief external & corporate affairs officer of bKash Limited.
The keynote speech laid out the general regulatory framework governing the fintech ecosystem in Bangladesh and the future changes to come.
During the panel discussion, Mr Ahmed Jamal, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank said: “The concept of fintech keeps on changing with the change of time and technology.”
Ahmed Jamal further emphasized on the central bank’s view of fintech activism and how the central bank being the regulatory authority can cooperate with fintech stakeholders in bringing up new technology and ensuring financial inclusion in Bangladesh.
He furthermore pointed out that, artificial intelligence is now considered as a driving force for fintech in the present context as technology helps to facilitate financial intermediation, payments and all the other process concerning fintech;
Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia assenting with the view of Ahmed Jamal regarding the constant emergence and praised the innovation and growth of fintech in India and highlighted few regulatory models of fintech governance.
She said: “Now with mobile payments, QR Code based payments or UPI (United Payment Interface) which is the largest digital payment infrastructure via these payments can be made within 10 seconds now.”
She also discussed about digital lending stating that fintech enabled lending has opened up new avenues of credit access in India.
Lastly, Major General Munir, discussed how bKash has led the fintech evolution in Bangladesh and how it worked simultaneously with the regulatory body from its inception to create a fintech friendly industry. He further elaborated on the data privacy mechanism and the competition framework for fintechs in Bangladesh.
The webinar was moderated by Barrister Anita Ghazi Rahman, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Founder and Managing Partner at The Legal Circle, Founder Trustee & Director of Communication, ALAP.
ALAP is an independent, non-political, non-profit making platform with the main objective of bringing together leading jurists, industry leaders, and development partners to discuss current legal and policy issues and challenges facing Bangladesh, to conduct research into these issues, to formulate concrete law and policy reform proposal to be presented to the policymakers, to engage in advocacy, and to disseminate knowledge.
As ALAP’s first initiative, it launched a Legal Webinar Series comprising thought-provoking addresses and discussions on law and policy issues during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
