SANTIAGO – A group of UK experts visited Santiago last month to inaugurate a fintech collaboration network with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latina America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC).

This was an outcome of an intense agenda of activities carried out in Chile last October by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, (CCAF).

This work is the third one launched by the centre outside the UK after China and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The collaboration network will enable research and policy support for regulators throughout Latin America, in particular in Pacific Alliance countries, which already have guidelines to harmonize fintech policies. This initiative has been supported by the British government as an observer country of this group.

The British Embassy organized a seminar on 25 March where UNECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Barcena, delivered some opening words about this landmark partnership. The Governor of the Central Bank of Chile, Mario Marcel, also participated delivering remarks praising this initiative, and about what it means for developing fintech friendly policies, both in Chile and Latin America.

A discussion ensued between Kevin Cowan, Commissioner for Financial Markets, and two Chilean companies that have opened branches in the UK, Capitaria and Genesis Ventures, about the challenges to regulate and foster financial innovation.

The activities of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance in Chile have received support from the GREAT campaign, a cross-government initiative aimed to showcase the best of the UK and encourage people to visit, do business, invest and study in the UK. It is the government’s most ambitious international promotional campaign ever, uniting the efforts of the private and public sectors to generate jobs and growth for Britain.–MercoPress