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Global economy, growing importance of innovations as well as wide use of technologies have changed the banking business worldwide. Financial technologies (FinTech) have become an integral part of banking, and nowadays banks have started to compete beyond financial services facing increasing competition from nonfinancial institutions providing, for example, payment services. Start-up service providers, search engines, and social networks have expanded their services “interfering” in the fields traditionally covered by banks. The rapid rise of FinTech has changed the business landscape in banking asking for more innovative solutions. These recent tendencies require the banks to increase investment in FinTech, rethink service distribution channels, especially the business-to-consumers models, increase further standardization of back-office functions, etc. Some members of the financial services industry see the boom in FinTech as a threat to traditional banking industry. Others believe that FinTech has become a challenge that can be turned into an opportunity as it provides more flexibility, better functionality in some areas, and aggregation of services. The aim of the paper is to analyze the recent trends in banking, identifying opportunities and risks of FinTech for banks. A timely integration of FinTech into business allows banks to get an advantage in growing competition. This paper provides an extensive analysis of recent trends in FinTech and banking, examining experience of leading European and US banks, as well as surveys conducted among members of the financial services industry in different countries. The authors have studied the development of the financial innovation and technology market, assessed the existing practices applied in the field of FinTech, identified the main risks related to development of FinTech and financial innovations the banks are exposed to on the micro- and macrolevel. The paper provides recommendations for regulators and banks to ensure reduction of risks associated with development of FinTech. Analysis of FinTech market has shown growing competition, including from nonfinancial institutions. The paper provides practical recommendations to commercial banks for strengthening the position in financial innovations and controlling the risks associated with introduction of financial innovations.

The chapter studies the role of Financial Technology (FinTech) in disrupting the existing traditional banking system. It identifies FinTech’s evolution in Asia across Deposits & lending, Capital Raising, Investment Management, Market provisioning, Payments, and Insurance. This technology revolution allows us to have a banking system based on values that serve customers better, reduce risk to the society and improve returns for the shareholders. Data on unbanked population, smartphone penetration, and Internet penetration has led to retail side innovations such as Mobile Wallets, P2P Payments, and Real-time Payments in the most of Asia (except China). A total of 49% of Global Investments in FinTech are in Asia and the Chinese dragon alone accounts for 46%. India is witnessing a strong amount of FinTech deals in 2017 and it is being driven by payment and lending solutions. ASEAN FinTech industry is dominated by m-wallets and online payments; this is followed by retail investment and financial comparison. The chapter dives into the challenges Asian banks are facing because of this disruption. Now more than ever, is the important role governments and central banks of each nation play to assess the path these start-ups are headed on and this will unfold the landscape of banking in Asia a few years down the lane.

Regulation of digital currency is still at its infancy as authorities around the world grapple with its mechanics, and study its impact and the best method to regulate it. Significant increase in the use of digital cryptocurrency based on Blockchain technology post-Bitcoin phenomenon had challenged the conventional idea of central bank monopoly in currency issuance. This had also raised concern that digital currency being used as an instrumentality of crime given its anonymity feature that allows for the flow of funds without tracing and the fact that it is built on trustless system that provides security of transaction. This concern, plus other consideration including the prospect of issuing central bank digital currency, had driven some authorities around the world to adopt countermeasures either via an outright ban or a regulatory regime that suits the nature of digital currency, which is purely virtual and anonymous. However, in coming out with an appropriate legal regime, authorities faced multiple difficulties especially when the pace of legal development does not sync congruently with the rapid progress of technology. In addition, given the growing prominence of Islamic finance around the world, questions also arise pertaining to the legality of digital cryptocurrency from the Islamic perspective. Through a qualitative study of relevant literatures as well as legislations in different countries, this chapter discusses the various categories of digital currency, its position from the Islamic perspective, regulatory regimes of digital cryptocurrency in selected jurisdictions and challenges faced by authorities around the world in regulating this new medium of exchange.

This chapter discusses legal considerations relating to digital assets. The legal aspects of tokenized and non-tokenized assets are evolving. Although some states have enacted specific laws or regulations for digital assets, Congress and federal agencies have been slower to craft specific rules and regulations for such assets. As a result, regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Internal Revenue Service, and market participants must apply existing guidance to digital assets. This chapter examines applying specific aspects of federal securities and tax law to digital assets. It also discusses general business law considerations for blockchain and cyber enterprises. The discussion of state law applications centers on the New York Virtual Currency License and Wyoming and Delaware crypto initiatives. This chapter does not provide a comprehensive review of all legal issues related to cryptocurrency. Each legal issue about cryptocurrency is complex and requires separate analyses.

This chapter examines institutional investors’ considerations while investing or otherwise engaging in the cryptocurrency sector, whether exclusively in bitcoin or the broader universe of crypto or decentralized finance assets. Given the rapid change in legal and regulatory oversight and cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation, offering inviolable advice about due diligence and compliance during commercial engagement is exceedingly difficult. However, general guidelines and rules of thumb are available.

Blockchain is an emerging technology that started in the cryptocurrency sphere with bitcoin but expanded to include numerous applications. This chapter provides an overview of the book. It begins by identifying the three main components of a blockchain. Next, it discusses the book's purpose, distinguishing features, and its intended audience. The chapter then outlines the book's structure, consisting of 22 chapters divided into four main parts. It offers a brief synopsis of each section and chapter. Finally, it ends with a summary and conclusions.

This chapter examines dynamic connectedness among emerging Asian equity markets as well as explores their linkages vis-à-vis other major global markets. We find that international equity markets are tightly integrated. Measuring connectedness based on a generalized Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, more than half of all total forecast error variance in equity return and volatility shocks come from other markets as opposed to country own shocks. When examining the degree of connectedness over time, we find that international stock markets have become increasingly connected, with a gentle upward trend since the Asian financial crisis (AFC) but with a rapid burst during the global financial crisis (GFC). Despite the growing importance of Asian emerging markets in the world economy, we find that their influence on advanced economies are still relatively small, with no significant increase over time. During the past decade, advanced markets have been consistently net transmitters of shocks while emerging Asian markets act as net receivers. Based on the nature of equity shock spillovers, we also find that advanced countries are still tightly connected among themselves while intraregional connectedness within Asia remains strong. By investigating whether uncertainty plays an important role in explaining the degree of stock market connectedness, we find that economic policy uncertainty (EPU) from the US is an important source of financial shock spillover for the majority of international equity markets. In contrast, US financial market uncertainty as proxied by the VIX index drives equity market spillovers only among advanced economies.

The purpose of this chapter is to map out the role of arts and the transfer values of the case of intensified music education as a governance tool for cultural sustainability. It takes the form of a literature review, which reveals that the role of arts in terms of governance of cultural sustainability includes the arts as issues of cultural heritage; symbolic translations of cultural values; transferring learning about emotions and life-quality, cooperation and linguistic-logical skills and potential transmitters of socio-economic enhancement of individuals performing it. The negative outcome is that the arts are predominated by the elite and wealthy, and that the potential of the role of the arts in the public education curriculum has not been utilised nor preferred in many countries as a result of low government expenditure. Other projects may exist in non-academic public media that may confirm or reject the findings. The chapter suggests academia and practitioners study, impact and initiate better ways of including the arts in the governance of cultural sustainability through public education. The inclusion of the arts in public education can improve the livelihood of children in all socio-economic areas. It connects two different literatures – that of cultural sustainability and that of traditional art studies in education, and raises questions about current governance practices underestimating the value of including cultural sustainability in governance and the role of the arts herein.