Financial Center News #154

I am glad to see close collaboration among African financial centers. The Kigali International Financial Centre, our member, went with a larger delegation to Botswana to organize a Botswana–Rwanda Investment Roundtable – congratulations!

Furthermore, the deadline for the final paper of our Young Academic Award is approaching. Every day, new papers are coming in. So far, we have received applications from more than 30 countries, and 2/3 of the authors are female. Both are new records. A lot to read for our international jury next month.

In the meantime, I am working on a paper that analyzes the impact of FinTech ecosystems on the performance of financial centers – please stay tuned.

The World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) is proud to be a Community Partner of the Point Zero Forum 2026 in Zurich 🇨🇭

Over 2,000 policymakers, central bankers, regulators, financial institutions, and technology leaders will gather at the intersection of finance, innovation, and public policy to discuss one of the most critical questions of our time:

How do we rebuild trust in the new era of money and AI?

As AI agents begin executing transactions autonomously, stablecoins continue scaling globally, and regulatory frameworks move from design to enforcement, the transformation of financial systems is accelerating rapidly.

Under the theme “Rewiring Trust: Technology and the New Rules of Money,” Point Zero Forum 2026 will bring together the key stakeholders shaping the future architecture of global finance.

At the World Alliance, we strongly believe that collaboration between international financial centers, regulators, innovators, and institutions is essential to ensure that technological transformation remains trusted, ethical, resilient, and globally connected.

Looking forward to the discussions and exchanges in Zurich.

📲 Register: https://lnkd.in/ePTWft4A

ADGM concluded a successful participation at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2026, reinforcing Abu Dhabi's growing role as a global hub for capital, investment and financial innovation.

Over the past month alone, eight major global financial institutions managing a combined US$4.4 trillion in assets announced plans to establish operations in Abu Dhabi through ADGM, reflecting increasing international confidence in the emirate's financial ecosystem, regulatory framework and long-term economic vision.

Throughout the conference, ADGM engaged with leading policymakers, institutional investors and global asset managers.

Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dHEgxMhd

💥Join us at the Islamic Finance and Business Forum 2026, one of the key events of the year in Islamic finance and investment.

Participants can expect:

✔️ discussions on investment opportunities in Kazakhstan and Central Asia

✔️ real case studies and Islamic finance instruments

✔️ international expertise in capital attraction and deal structuring

✔️ dialogue with regulators, banks and market participants

📎 Registration is available via the link: https://www.ifbforum.kz

🗓️ May 21

📍AIFC, 55/19 Mangilik El Ave., Block C3.4

We're proud to serve as a Platinum Sponsor and bring together representatives from The Bahamas' financial services industry for this important conversation at LPWC 2026. 🌊

From wealth structuring and investment opportunities to digital assets and innovation, this session will highlight why The Bahamas continues to attract global attention as a leading international financial centre.

We look forward to engaging with the LPWC audience and showcasing the expertise, connectivity, and forward-thinking solutions The Bahamas has to offer.

Join our upcoming webinar, Scaling Up Digital Finance in Busan: Policy and Academia Perspective, co-hosted with Z/Yen Group Limited and Busan Finance Center

This session will bring together experts from policy and academia to explore Hashtag#Busan’s evolving digital finance ecosystem, including:

🔹 Digital finance policy and strategic direction

🔹 Innovation and fintech ecosystem development

🔹 Busan’s role as a future-oriented financial hub

🎙 Speakers:

• Dr.Jin Park

• Prof.Chaehyun Kim

📅 June 18, 2026

🌐 Online Webinar

📍 To register: https://lnkd.in/g9udrhnP

As Africa's leading business and financial hub, Casablanca Finance City reflects an attractive, competitive and forward-looking Morocco.

This is more than a ranking. It is the result of a collective momentum: one that you are part of.

Today, maintaining and strengthening this position depends on the voice of those who know Morocco best.

Make your voice count. Support Morocco's leadership.

Take part in the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) survey.

https://lnkd.in/eFuXe9rN

AI is reshaping how organisations think, decide, and grow. In the first of a two-part #DIFCUnplugged podcast series, Adrien Treccani, Founder and CEO of Supervised, explores how AI-powered knowledge orchestration is helping global enterprises cut through complexity and turn information into strategic clarity.

Drawing from his experience working with Fortune 500 companies, Adrien shares how organisations can remain agile in an increasingly data-driven world — and why smarter decision-making starts with better access to knowledge.

Listen to Part 1 now on Spotify, YouTube, and the DIFC App.

The Economic Development Board of Mauritius is organising a Business Forum entitled “Mauritius: Your Strategic Platform for Nigerian Capital, Growth & Global Expansion” on the 18th of May 2026, at Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Lagos, Victoria Island.

This forum will present strategic insights into the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) as a premier platform for structuring international investments, preserving capital, and enabling Nigerian enterprises to scale globally.

Please click on the following link to register for the Business Forum: https://bit.ly/4nmUoiA

EnterpriseNGR is proud to partner with the Economic Development Board Mauritius and the Mauritius International Financial Centre for the Mauritius Nigeria Business Forum themed: “Mauritius: Your Strategic Platform for Nigerian Capital, Growth & Global Expansion.”

As Nigerian businesses expand their global ambitions, conversations around capital, investment structuring, and cross-border growth have never been more important.

This forum will provide business leaders, investors, and stakeholders with valuable insights into how Mauritius can serve as a gateway for international investment structuring, capital preservation, and global expansion for Nigerian enterprises.

At EnterpriseNGR, we remain committed to advancing platforms and partnerships that strengthen the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses, unlock investment opportunities, and position Nigeria more strongly within the global economy.

FinanceMalta is live at #BIBA2026, the world's largest insurance broking event, taking place today and tomorrow at Manchester Central.

We are joined by a strong Maltese delegation showcasing the depth and expertise of our insurance and financial services sector:

• Mike Ellis – Artex Risk Solutions

• michael witfield – Atlas Insurance

• Romina Bonnici and Elaine Magri – Ganado Advocates

• Frank Cassar – Zenith Actuarial

• Malcolm Ellul – MIB Insurance Brokers

• Cormac Bradley – Broadstone

• Patrizia Cassar and Adrian Pavia Dimech – Grant Thornton Malta

Malta continues to position itself as a competitive jurisdiction for insurance and financial services, backed by a robust regulatory framework, EU membership, and a deeply experienced professional services ecosystem.

Drop by our stand to connect with the delegation and explore opportunities for doing business with Malta.

The #FSA held a meeting with active individual investors in the MSX, reflecting its community participation-based approach to regulating the non-banking financial sector

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

"As digital assets and Web3 enter a new stage of development, how do we bring new technology into a financial infrastructure that is trustworthy, regulated, and sustainable?"

At the 2026 Conflux Network – Digital Finance and Ecosystem Conference, our Vice-Chairman, Mr Daniel Fung, raised this question and shared valuable insights on the development of digital finance in Hong Kong.

Mr. Fung highlighted that Hong Kong's edge lies in innovation empowered by a forward-looking regulatory framework that provides clarity, supports growth, and safeguards stakeholders.

He noted that a compliant, transparent, and auditable stablecoin framework can enable real-time, on-chain circulation of multiple currencies, enhancing efficiency in cross-border trade and global investment settlements.

Through exchanges like this, the #FSDC remains committed to strengthening Hong Kong's position as an #IFC and supporting the city to thrive in the new era of finance.

🚀 Frankfurt is becoming a hotspot for tech, AI, and blockchain today

With "Block im Park 2026," Deutsche Bank Park—normally home to Eintracht Frankfurt—is now serving as a stage for the future of the financial center. Leading representatives from the financial industry, technology, regulation, and politics are gathering here to discuss the key technological trends that are increasingly shaping Frankfurt and the European financial market.

The focus is on artificial intelligence, tokenization, digital currencies, and connected infrastructures—as well as regulation.

With the establishment of AMLA—The EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority—a new anchor for modern supervision, compliance, and data-driven solutions is emerging.

We look forward to the discussions and exchanges on-site. Who’s joining us today?

We're happy to share that, together with FinTech Poland, we've become official partners of the Digital ID Forum 2026. ✨

Digital ID Forum 2026 - an international conference dedicated to digital identity, biometrics, cybersecurity, and AI security will take place on May 18-19, 2026 in Wrocław.

➡️ The event will bring together representatives of public administration, the financial sector, technology companies, and academia, creating a space for discussions on the future of secure digital services and new trust models.

📅 May 18–19, 2026

📍 Wrocław

👉 Registration: https://lnkd.in/dFZJ7urA

Istanbul Financial Center is redefining what it means to be a global financial hub. Finance operates here today, shaping tomorrow from the heart of Istanbul.

Take your place at the center: https://lnkd.in/dUdu3sh9

Our CEO, Hortense Mudenge, together with CIO Jean-Marie Kananura, held a series of strategic engagements in Botswana alongside Rwanda's Minister of State, Public Investments and Resource Mobilization, at MINECOFIN, Hon. Tesi Rusagara.

The delegation engaged with leading pension funds, the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), and the Botswana Stock Exchange Limited to discuss institutional investment partnerships, regional capital market connectivity, and opportunities to facilitate cross-border capital flows between Rwanda and Botswana.

The engagements culminated in the Botswana–Rwanda Investment Roundtable, co-hosted by KIFC and PULASPACE, which convened senior investment leaders to explore long-term collaboration, market access, and capital deployment opportunities across Africa.

The discussions reflected a shared ambition to strengthen regional financial integration and build globally competitive African investment ecosystems.

🇪🇺 Happy #EuropeDay!

Today marks more than a date, it reflects a shared vision.

From cooperation and stability to today's dynamic single market, the European Union has created the conditions for financial centers such as Luxembourg to thrive, innovate, and connect globally.

Within this framework, Luxembourg's financial centre plays a key role in supporting a connected and resilient European financial ecosystem, while contributing to strengthening Europe's competitiveness and advancing the ambitions of the Savings and Investments Union.

Honoured to be speaking at the 4th Edition of the Kenya Blockchain and Crypto Conference.

Africa's financial transformation is accelerating and the decisions being made right now, in policy chambers, boardrooms, and on stages like #KBCC2026, will define the continent's economic trajectory for decades to come.

At the NIFC Africa, our focus is clear: position Nairobi as a globally competitive International Financial Centre and a strategic gateway for capital flows, financial innovation, and investment into Africa.

We are making that vision real through institutional reforms that build credibility, regulatory clarity that gives investors confidence, and frameworks that unlock sustainable capital mobilisation and cross-border investment at scale.

I will be sharing perspectives on:

• Structuring competitive financial ecosystems for global investors.

• Unlocking institutional capital across emerging markets.

• The intersection of regulation, innovation and digital finance.

These are not peripheral conversations, they are central to how Africa grows, competes, and leads in the global economy.

I look forward to engaging with innovators, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders who are driving this agenda forward. See you there!

Islamic finance and digital asset innovation are reshaping the future of the financial industry - and the conversations shaping that shift matter. ☪️🏦

Our CEO, Mansoor Al-Khater, delivered the keynote address at the 10th CEOs Roundtable, hosted by the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, bringing together senior leaders from across the financial sector, regulators, and academia on the strategic issues defining the road ahead.

We were delighted to host a lunchtime session yesterday for Labour parliamentary staffers, kindly sponsored by Aviva.

It was a great chance to discuss how financial and related professional services can help drive opportunity in constituencies, the barriers that can hold back investment, and how closer cooperation between industry and Parliament can help unlock growth. We also covered the enabling role the industry plays in supporting the UK's ambitions in areas such as AI, sustainability and defence.

This was the latest event in our series recognising the vital democratic contribution made by parliamentary staff.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and shared insights and to Aviva for supporting the discussion.

The signing of the TRIFIC Green USD Denominated I-REIT documents by James Mworia- CEO, Centum Investment Company Plc., PIUS MUCHIRI, CFA- CEO, Nabo Capital, Sally Chege- Director, Transactional Banking NCBA Group and James Gossip- MD NCBA Group, marks a historic milestone: the launch of Kenya's first-ever Green USD I-REIT.

This ceremony underscores our dedication to rigorous governance and our mission to democratize access to institutional-grade real estate. For the investor, this means you can now own a share of the fully occupied, eco-friendly TRIFIC North Tower within the TRIFIC Special Economic Zone and earn a targeted 8% net annual return in USD.

With the ink now dry on these foundational documents, the TRIFIC I-REIT is fully operational and open for subscription.

Access the investor portal here: https://lnkd.in/d8mb63rF