SLOVAK VERSION
Júlia Čillíková na konferencii Finweek 2022: “Z pohľadu centrálnej banky má finančná gramotnosť dopad aj na finančnú stabilitu štátu. Domácnosti a ľudia sa enormne zadlžujú až do dôchodkového veku, nešetria si na dôchodok a nemyslia na zabezpečenie pre prípad kritických situácií.”
B R A T I S L A V A – 15. november 2022 – Finančná gramotnosť je jednou z otázok, ktoré na Slovensku rezonujú už niekoľko rokov. Domácnosti sa nerozvážne zadlžujú a nemyslia na rezervu ani na poistenie pre prípad kritických situácií. Mladá generácia sa o svoje financie síce zaujíma, no chýba jej základ finančnej gramotnosti, ktorý má plynúť najmä z výchovy. Okrem rodinného prostredia však na Slovensku zlyhávajú aj školy a štát. Je preto na čase začleniť finančnú gramotnosť do výučby na školách a podporovať jej vzdelávanie aj v rámci verejného a súkromného sektora, kým ešte nie je neskoro.
Celý 3. deň Finweek konferencie bol venovaný finančnej gramotnosti. Na úvod 1. diskusie – Zlepšenie finančnej gramotnosti na Slovensku – od vízii k realite? Roman Fusek, National Bank of Slovakia, uviedol, že ho teší, že dospelá populácia sa neustále učí, aj keď pomaly a často na vlastných chybách. Andrea Kasanická Straková, PARTNERS GROUP, považuje preto za dôležité začať s budovaním finančnej gramotnosti už v rodine, spolu s Petrom Miklošom, Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, však súhlasí, že extrémne dôležitá je aj práca na základných, stredných a vysokých školách. “Riešením má byť pripravovaná kurikulárna reforma, ktorá ukáže, ako finančnú gramotnosť vyučovať v rámci rôznych predmetov. Nemyslím si, že vytvoriť samostatný predmet je dobrý nápad,” hovorí Erika Pastoráková, The University of Economics in Bratislava, oponuje jej však Milan Pavlík, Finančný lekár, podľa ktorého si komplexnosť tejto problematiky samostatný predmet vyžaduje. Na viacerých školách už vznikajú vzdelávacie programy, vďaka ktorým deti učia finančnej gramotnosti svojich rodičov. Podľa Fuseka by to však malo byť naopak. Problém je, že na Slovensku máme generácie dospelých ľudí, ktorí si takouto výchovou neprešli. Podľa Pastorákovej tomu neprospieva ani fakt, že finančný svet sa skomplikoval, a pre ľudí, ktorí ho nepoznajú, je ťažké udržať krok, nehovoriac o často absentujúcom kritickom myslení, ktoré je neodmysliteľnou súčasťou finančnej gramotnosti. “Naším cieľom je, aby ľudia vedeli otázky finančnej gramotnosti implementovať do reálneho života, a nie aby správne odpovedali na otázky pri jej meraní,” hovorí Pastoráková. Jedným zo spomínaných vzdelávacích programov je aj projekt FinQ, do ktorého by podľa Fuseka mala byť do 5 rokov zapojená ⅓ všetkých škôl na Slovensku: “Ide o veľmi ambiciózny cieľ, v rámci ktorého chceme finančnú gramotnosť inštitucionálne zaviesť ako súčasť každodenného vyučovania na školách. Ide o projekt, ktorý spĺňa všetky parametre súvisiace s národným štandardom, a ktorý do istej miery supluje štátne inštitúcie.”
O programe FinQ hovorí aj Eva Vargová, Junior Achievement Slovensko: “Často vidíme, že víťazi rôznych študentských olympiád sú deti začlenené do našich programov., Ak má dobré vedomostné základy učiteľ, tak aj deti, ktoré učí, vykazujú omnoho lepšie výsledky. Dopad našej práce však môže byť ešte väčší, potrebujeme však silnejšiu podporu štátu a súkromného sektora. Namiesto duplicitných iniciatív sa potrebujeme viac spájať.” Učiteľa vníma ako kľúčovú osobnosť pri dosahovaní finančnej gramotnosti aj Kasanická Straková a Pavlík, a aj podľa Mikloša je vzdelávanie učiteľov a budúcich učiteľov na pedagogických školách veľmi dôležité. Vargová však poukazuje na fakt, že prieskum PISA za najdôležitejší faktor vyhodnotil socioekonomické zázemie rodiny. A keďže na Slovensku máme veľmi nízku úroveň vzdelávania dospelých, treba popremýšľať aj o tom, čo v tejto oblasti zmeniť. Pastoráková preto navrhuje urobiť prieskum, ktorý by zachytil úroveň finančnej gramotnosti podľa vekových segmentov, napr. 20-30 roční, 30-45 roční, na základe čoho by sme dokázali vytvoriť cielenejšie vzdelávanie. Fusek však poukazuje na ďalší problém – chýba nám totiž analýza finančnej gramotnosti zo strany štátu. “Bojujeme s nezáujmom štátu, ministerstvo školstva sa napríklad nezapojilo ani do posledného PISA testovania. Máme aktívne školy, kde vidíme zlepšenie, ale, bohužiaľ, drvivá väčšina je stále pasívna – buď im je to jedno, alebo nevedia, aké sú možnosti. Naša dospelá populácia sa nechce vzdelávať, a tak sa to mnohí naučia až keď ich niekto oklame a prídu o peniaze. Mnohí sa mylne domnievajú, že peniazom úplne rozumejú, často sa však preceňujú,” hovorí Fusek a súhlasí s ním aj Kasanická Straková a Pastoráková, ktorá za kľúčovú pri zlepšení finančnej gramotnosti považuje aj prácu s dátami. Podľa Mikloša v rámci snáh o dosahovanie lepšej finančnej gramotnosti chýba aj spoločná platforma, ktorá by dávala viacerým organizáciám priestor stretnúť sa, vzájomne zdieľať poznatky a plánovať ďalšie kroky. Podľa Daniela Ďuriača, Národná banka Slovenska, sa takou usiluje byť práve platforma „5peňazí“. Takúto spoluprácu pritom oceňuje aj Vargová. “Problém je, že každý by chcel spolupracovať, ale zároveň si chce zachovať svoju značku a nezdieľať úplne všetko. Školy pritom zaujíma jediné – kde si môžu objednať dôveryhodné vzdelávanie, počas ktorého im nik nebude predávať svoje produkty. Kľúčom je preto integrovať tých, ktorí sú dôveryhodní, a nechcú na školách predávať finančné produkty,” vysvetľuje Fusek. Kasanická Straková však vidí aj iný problém. “Stále sa točíme okolo vedomostí, ale finančná gramotnosť má byť o schopnosti aplikovať vedomosti do praxe. Národnú stratégiu finančnej gramotnosti máme od roku 2008, no z meraní PISA 2018 vidíme, že sme na tom úplne rovnako. Keď sa pozrieme na zostatky fyzických osôb na bankových účtoch, ktoré v čase terajšej inflácie dosahujú hodnotu 44 mld, tak vidíme, že riešením nie je vzdelávanie, ale to, aby sme boli konečne aktívni,” upozorňuje Kasanická Straková. Inšpirovať by sme sa podľa Fuseka mohli v Holandsku, ktoré má na trhu jednu overenú inštitúciu a tá koordinuje všetko, čo sa týka finančnej gramotnosti. Školy aj ľudia vedia, že všetkému, čo vystupuje pod touto “značkou” môžu dôverovať. Táto inštitúcia okrem toho funguje nezávisle od štátu, a tak nie je závislá ani od toho, aká vláda je momentálne pri moci.
Tretí deň pokračoval diskusiou Finančná gramotnosť & Ženy a investovanie, v ktorej Júlia Čillíková, National Bank of Slovakia, pripomenula, že z pohľadu centrálnej banky má tento aspekt dopad aj na finančnú stabilitu štátu. Domácnosti a spotrebitelia sa enormne zadlžujú až do dôchodkového veku, nešetria si na dôchodok a nemyslia ani na zabezpečenie pre prípad kritických situácií. Podľa Petra Pašeka, Accace, táto situácia vyplýva z chýbajúcich vzorov u rodičov, ktorého dôsledkom je aj nedostatok skúseností z oblasti investovania, čo sa odráža aj na absencii kapitálového trhu na Slovensku. “Finančnej gramotnosti sa učíme zväčša doma, od rodičov, nie v škole. Aj ona zohráva dôležitú úlohu, najdôležitejší sú však rodičia,“ hovorí Pašek. Podľa Tomáša Barbariča, 365.bank, by však finančné vzdelávanie malo plynúť z viacerých smerov a nemôžeme ho nechať na rodinu, ktorá ak žije v chudobe, z pohľadu finančnej gramotnosti nemá svojim deťom čo odovzdať. Dôležitú úlohu tu majú podľa Pašeka zohrávať aj médiá, ktoré napr. v Nemecku vysvetľujú v rámci reklám investičné príležitosti a riziká. Jana Merunková, Yourchance, si okrem toho myslí, že správne rozhodnutia by mali zdôrazňovať aj známe osobnosti. Niekedy totiž vidíme opak, ktorý, ak je mierený na zraniteľnejšie komunity obyvateľstva, môže mať katastrofálne následky. Na tie nadväzuje aj chýbajúce kritické myslenie, ktoré vidí ako problém aj Terezia Jacová, LUMUS Investment Collective. “Ak máme kritické myslenie, aplikujeme ho aj na ďalšie oblasti života, pri jeho absencii však nie sme schopní vyhodnotiť množstvo informácií, ktoré sú v súčasnosti dostupné,” hovorí Jacová, i keď podľa Čillíkove by sme si mali najskôr osvojiť základné princípy finančnej gramotnosti a až potom sa venovať nadstavbe, ako napr. investovaniu. Podľa Martina Luňáčeka, PORTU, sa nám tak jasne ukazuje, že čím viac aktivít na rôznych úrovniach podnikneme, tým lepšiu úroveň finančnej gramotnosti dosiahneme, pričom treba s rôznymi skupinami obyvateľstva pracovať rôznymi spôsobmi. Spomedzi jednotlivých skupín obyvateľstva si pritom záujem zaslúžia aj ženy, ktoré si podľa Luňáčeka v rámci investovania omnoho menej veria, preto je tu veľký priestor pre ich podporu a vzdelávanie. “Ženy – investorky tvoria len 10 až 15 % v porovnaní s mužmi a otázkou je, ako ich vieme motivovať,” hovorí Jacová. Podľa Merunkovej je pritom dôležité, aby ženy investovali nielen do akcií či krypta, ale aj do svojich vlastných biznis nápadov. Podľa Čillíkovej však môžeme za pozitívne považovať, že vzniká všeobecný dopyt po informáciách a ľudia sa začínajú o svoje financie zaujímať, i keď je to zrejme spôsobené dnešnou krízou. Posúvať by sme sa však mali presne týmto smerom, pretože najlepším ochrancom spotrebiteľa je spotrebiteľ sám.
Okrem finančnej gramotnosti boli formou tlačových správ spracované aj všetky ďalšie diskusie konferencie Finweek Bratislava 2022. Výber ich najkľúčovejších myšlienok nájdete tu:
1. tlačová správa: Marcus Härtel: Jednou z najväčších výziev CBDC bude nájsť riešenie najvhodnejšie z hľadiska budúcnosti. Máme totiž len jednu šancu urobiť to správne
2. tlačová správa: Slovensko ako možný ťahúň fintech regiónu krajín V4
3. tlačová správa: Spolupráca bánk a fintechov v rámci open bankingu môže klientom priniesť nielen inovatívnejšie produkty, ale aj rozvoj digitálneho hospodárstva.
To najlepšie z konferencie Finweek Bratislava 2022 si budete môcť prečítať a pozrieť aj vďaka interaktívnemu PDF, ktoré organizátor pripravuje.
Tohtoročný Finweek nastavil latku kvality skutočne vysoko, no podľa organizátorov to stále nie je všetko. “Už 23. mája pripravujeme 3. ročník investične orientovanej konferencie a zároveň vás už teraz pozývame na budúcoročný Finweek, ktorý by sa mal predbežne konať 10.októbra 2023. Jeho súčasťou bude opäť súťaž Zlatá minca a množstvo noviniek. Chceme totiž, aby bol 7. ročník tejto konferencie doterajším vrcholom nielen z hľadiska účasti svetových lídrov, ale aj počtom účastníkov. Dôležitým faktorom bude aj spolupráca s Prahou, vďaka ktorej budeme už v roku 2023 spolupracovať pri tvorbe Finweek Česká republika!” hovorí o ďalších plánok Davy Čajko, riaditeľ spoločnosti Future Proof, ktorá Finweek organizuje.
Konferenciu Finweek Bratislava 2022 sa organizátorom Tech Events podarilo zorganizovať najmä vďaka podpore viacerých partnerov a podporovateľov:
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Hlavný partner: Ministerstvo financií Slovenskej republiky, Národná banka Slovenska, VISA, Binance, Blik, 365.bank
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Podporovatelia: Portu, CRIF – Slovak Credit Bureau, Fumbi
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Technická podpora: Norriv, Slido
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Side event partneri: Zlatá minca, FINAS |Fintech & Insurtech Association of Slovakia
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Venue partner: HUBHUB
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Gallery partner: ASG
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Mediálni partneri: StartitUp, SITA, Nextech, Satosi.sk, Financie v pohode, Bankovnictví, Euroekonom.sk, Start Money Match, O krypte, MediaKlik, Zlatá minca, Pravda
Všetky ďalšie informácie o pripravovanej konferencií nájdete na Techevents.eu a na sociálnych sieťach LinkedIn, Facebook a Instagram.
Všetky doterajšie konferenčné formáty a ich jednotlivé diskusie nájdete spracované v archívoch ako podcasty alebo ako videá na YouTube kanáli organizátora.
ENGLISH VERSION
Finweek Bratislava: “Cooperation between banks and fintechs can bring clients more innovative products and the development of the digital economy.”
B R A T I S L A V A – 28 October 2022 – The end of September brought top trends and lots of news from the financial world to Bratislava! Finweek – a three-day conference that attracted almost 60 experts from more than 10 countries. During three days packed with information, they discussed the challenges that await us today and in the coming years. Almost 350 people participated in discussions and side events, participants talked about the rapidly growing world of insurtech, institutional adoption of crypto, the planned MiCA regulation, and money laundering.
The second day of the conference brought 5 discussion panels and the first was dedicated to the topic of Challenges of the Banking & Fintech sector. Its regulatory environment is seen by Sam Boboev, StormPay, as a big challenge, because it is still not the driving force of the innovations we have in the market. The reason, according to Subhobroto Chakroborty, The Digital Fellow, is mainly people with insufficient knowledge in leadership positions. They cannot keep up with customers who have adapted to today’s times more quickly: “Covid has accelerated the digital transformation of the population and it has not changed even after covid. People still use digital products.” Piotr Pietrzak, BLIK, tries to focus mainly on the increase of investments and the potential of innovative ideas that shape our CEE region. “You can start a business in London within 5 minutes and all you need is a smartphone. If we want to stimulate the development of innovations, the regulators and the government must create an environment suitable for the creation of startups in our country as well,” explains Beer. But for that, according to Martin Horváth, 365.bank, we need excellent e-government, a clear innovative vision of our direction and current CEE needs, and, according to Boboev, better education of all involved – customers, companies, and regulators. According to Pietrzak, this also applies to open banking, whose potential remains untapped. According to Tomáš Pristáč, CRIF – Slovak Credit Bureau, the solution can also be quality data and APIs that we have in the EU and that banks can use.
The second discussion focused on Security in Finance. Juraj Forgács, Fumbi, noted that the implementation of AML is very difficult if banks and crypto companies do not cooperate. “In addition, the education of companies is also important, because few know which financial protection obligations apply to them,” explains Lukáš Bonko, AML expert. Forgács, who also sees regtech as one of the solutions to reduce the rate of errors, suggests educating companies also within the AML sandbox, which will give them space to learn from their mistakes. Forgács, Mária Potančoková, and Bonko agree that not everything is about regulations. We don’t need more of them, but fewer and of better quality. Within the EU, simpler regulations should apply – especially for startups, and at the borders, on the contrary, tougher controls. “Unfortunately, the outlook for the future is complicated by AML 6, which represents an even stricter regulation than the previous ones. I believe that the EU will reconsider its adoption,” says Bonko, according to whom AML is a good thing, but even without it, we have room for improvement in terms of efficiency. According to Forgács, an example is opening a current account in a bank when you want to start a crypto company, which is extremely difficult in Slovakia and even more difficult in the V4 countries, so you have to open an account in Lithuania, UK or Germany. “It is therefore important to connect banks, companies, and AML in such a way that the whole process is easier,” states Lukáš Steiniger, STEINIGER | law firm.
The 4th discussion – Insurtech – focused on the sector which, according to Rastislav Sojka, EUROLIVE plus, is experiencing a worldwide boom. The volume of its market reached $3.7 billion this year, and the expected volume for 2030 is up to $140 billion. However, as stated by Gabriel Jaščur, SWELL Financial Group, the Slovak market is small, which, according to Martin Halada, Union poisťovňa, is largely due to the lack of insurtech startups: “Insurtech is much bigger in more developed countries. It is, therefore, necessary that if a company wants to break through in Slovakia, it must be ready to expand to other countries.” Jaroslav Mikulič, itgo!, also sees a problem stemming from the ossified systems of most insurance companies. The mutual sharing of information between insurance companies does not work, and this is where Halada sees room for improvement. The proof is also the fact that Jaščur talked about, that in developed countries over the last year the willingness to share their personal data has increased by 19% in exchange for a cheaper service, of course with the condition that the client wants to know what will happen to their data. Therefore, as one of the solutions, Halada proposes the evaluation of insured products according to criteria – how it works in the Netherlands, and Mikulič recommends integrating the latest technology into current systems, such as blockchain.
In addition to the output from the 2nd day of the Finweek Bratislava 2022 conference, the organizers have already processed its 1st day. You can familiarize yourself with its content in two separate press releases – the first focused on the challenges of the digital euro, CBDC in the context of the V4 countries and MiCA regulation, and the second on the creation of a new Central European innovation center and The Fintech Valley initiative.
The Finweek Bratislava 2022 conference was organized mainly thanks to the support of several partners and supporters:
Main partner: Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, National Bank of Slovakia, VISA, Binance, Blik, 365.bank
Supporter: Portu, CRIF – Slovak Credit Bureau, Fumbi
Tech support: Norriv, Slido
Side event partner: Zlatá minca, FINAS |Fintech & Insurtech Association of Slovakia
Venue partner: HUBHUB
Gallery partner: ASG
Media partner: StartitUp, SITA, Nextech, Satosi.sk, Financie v pohode, Bankovnictví, Euroekonom.sk, Start Money Match, O krypte, MediaKlik, Zlatá minca, Pravda
All other information about the upcoming conference can be found at Techevents.eu and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
All previous conferences and discussions can be found in the archives as podcasts or on the YouTube channel.
ENGLISH VERSION
Marcus Härtel at the Finweek 2022 conference: “One of the biggest challenges for CBDC is to find the most suitable “future-proof” solution because we will only have one chance to get it right”
B R A T I S L A V A, October 13, 2022 – In 2024, we expect the launch of the European MiCA regulation, which will bring a lot of changes to the “crypto world”. The Finweek Bratislava 2022 conference was also about them, which brought together financial experts and regulators from different parts of the world and thus pointed out the necessity of cooperation between the state and the private sector in solving issues of the financial future. This, like crypto, will also be shaped by the CBDC – a new financial system that is one of the biggest challenges since the introduction of the euro itself. The Finweek conference again this year opened up the fundamental topics of the fintech sector, which is expected to reach USD 698.48 billion by 2030, growing by 20.3% from 2021 to 2030 alone.
The three-day conference Finweek Bratislava 2022 attracted financial leaders from around the world to Bratislava. The conference focused on financial innovations was opened by Martin Peter, head of the Center for Innovations at the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, which Finweek sees as extremely important, especially in these difficult times. He sees its significance in new, innovative ideas that will move us forward as a society and thus contribute to a better future.
The source of innovative ideas was the 1st discussion – A time of reflection on current global development – Towards a new paradigm of the global financial ecosystem, in which Petia Niederländer, Austrian National Bank, mentioned several factors that should motivate us to introduce CBDC. These include financial resilience, monetary sovereignty, and strategic autonomy. Anikó Szombati, Central Bank of Hungary, added to them financial inclusion, competition on the payment market, which will result in better financial services, or the need for a national financial system, and Peter Paluš, Permanent Representation of Slovakia to the European Union, also mentioned financial stability and payment transformation. “The introduction of CBDC does not mean that the current system will stop working. They will coexist together, it will just be necessary to differentiate between CBDC for retail and wholesale,” explains Anikó Szombati.
According to Anikó Szombati, everyone expects CBDC to be a reality in the next 10 years, but so far no one knows how to get there. “So far, very few countries have started with the pilot program – both smaller and larger, such as China or the Bahamas. Unfortunately, I don’t see much cooperation in this area between the V4 countries, which I hope will change in the near future,” says Anikó Szombati. According to Martin Bruncko, Vice President of Binance for Europe, the development of CBDC in Europe lacks dynamism and speed. “We can see the first failed attempts in Europe in Sweden. If central banks will be waiting with implementation, the private sector may overtake them. The so-called “stablecoins” linked to the Euro are already working and will soon start gaining more and more popularity,” warns Martin Bruncko, according to whom it is important that the digital Euro is built on the basis of blockchain. Bruncko also admits that he does not see the difference between CBDC and the digital money we already use, but Petia Niederländer claims that CBDC has a completely different business model than the digital money of commercial banks.
According to Jonas Gross, Digital Euro Association, the importance of CBDC should be that it will bring something extra to the economy compared to the current financial system. In other words, CBDC should come with features that the current financial system lacks. According to Jonas Gross, every CBDC project is a little different and it only depends on the specific country and how it wants to use it. According to Peter Paluš, the goal is mainly the correct setting of the CBDC and not the speed of its introduction.
Marcus Härtel, European Central Bank, sees the digital euro as one of the biggest efforts since the introduction of the euro. The result should be a new payment system allowing to pay in euros anywhere within the EU. “One of the biggest challenges for CBDC is to find the most suitable “future-proof” solution because we will only have one chance to get it right” points out Marcus Härtel. Jonas Gross reminds that users’ privacy is one of the basic requirements for the Digital € project and, according to Peter Paluš, it should also be environmentally sustainable.
The 2nd discussion “Regulations & MiCA” focused on the upcoming European regulation, which according to Rok Žvelc, DG FISMA, European Commission, will bring the long-awaited regulation of crypto assets. The aim is to support innovation through various tools. Daniel Ďuriač, National Bank of Slovakia, expects that MiCA should be fully operational around mid-2024. “Slovakia does not yet have any comprehensive regulation, and it is MiCA that should bring about the change. After its launch, crypto-asset service providers can receive a license from a national supervisory authority, allowing them to enter any EU country. Regulation should help prevent fraud and bring greater transparency. People will be able to verify companies thanks to MiCA, while at the same time it will give national supervisory authorities the power to enforce these rules”, explains Daniel Ďuriač. Lynn T. McConnell, head of Binance’s compliance department, just reminds that some regulators already have a list of fraudsters published on their websites, and according to Rok Žvelc, MiCA will also bring a list of regulated and unregulated companies at the level of the entire EU, not just in individual countries.
According to Roman Chandoga from the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, the MiCA project is also welcomed by his ministry. According to him, MiCA will clarify the legislative framework and also bring several challenges that the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic will have to deal with. Roman Chandoga also states that although the European market may seem overregulated, it is actually very difficult to keep up with it because it is evolving very quickly. According to Daniel Ďuriač, after the introduction of MiCA, the European market will become the first large market with this type of regulation, which will be its strong competitive advantage compared to other markets. Lynn T. McConnell shares the same opinion, adding that proper implementation will be needed to enforce the regulation. “MiCA is not suitable for some areas. This mainly concerns the DEFI and NFT sectors, which will therefore not be part of MiCA. Even for them, however, it will be necessary to consider possible regulations in the future. Now it is important that MiCA also brings clarity to what stablecoins are, and which stablecoins can be classified as e-money,” explains Daniel Ďuriač.
According to Rok Žvelc, international cooperation is also very important in this area, as regulations concern the whole world, not just Europe. Those in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to Lynn T. McConnell, focus mainly on AML, while many other countries, according to Rok Žvelc, are introducing them mainly in connection with stablecoins: “Unlike them, MiCA will be a comprehensive regulation and will cover all crypto assets.” However, according to Daniel Ďuriač and Roman Chandoga, the real challenge will be crypto-taxation, which FINAS is also dealing with in Slovakia in addition to MiCA. “I can confirm that the solution to crypto taxation is also in the interest of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, which is why we have already had several discussions with the FINAS association,” says Roman Chandoga.
A problem within crypto assets is also the lack of educational experts who understand the regulations. Therefore, according to Lynn T. McConnell, increasing the education of regulators is also important, thanks to which regulations will be of higher quality. However, education is also important in terms of resistance to fraud, which, according to Lynn T. McConnell, can have a very negative impact on people’s lives: “That’s why at Binance we work with various market players and try to educate people.” According to Roman Chandoga, this is also the reason why regulation is necessary. Even though it may seem to some that the European market is overregulated, the need for regulation is emphasized by the amount of fraud that occurs in this area, explains Roman Chandoga.
The Finweek Bratislava 2022 conference was organized mainly thanks to the support of several partners and supporters:
Main partner: Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, National Bank of Slovakia, VISA, Binance, Blik, 365.bank
Supporter: Portu, CRIF – Slovak Credit Bureau, Fumbi
Tech support: Norriv, Slido
Side event partner: Zlatá minca, FINAS |Fintech & Insurtech Association of Slovakia
Venue partner: HUBHUB
Gallery partner: ASG
Media partner: StartitUp, SITA, Nextech, Satosi.sk, Financie v pohode, Bankovnictví, Euroekonom.sk, Start Money Match, O krypte, MediaKlik, Zlatá minca, Pravda
All other information about the upcoming conference can be found at Techevents.eu and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
All previous conferences and discussions can be found in the archives as podcasts or on the YouTube channel.
ENGLISH VERSION
Finweek Bratislava 2022: Slovakia as a possible fintech leader in the V4 region.
BR A T I S L A V A – October 5, 2022 – The sixth edition of the Finweek Bratislava conference, which took place from September 20 to 22, confirmed that Slovakia has the potential to be the fintech leader of the V4 countries and thus put itself on the world map in financial innovation. Up to 55 foreign and Slovak experts and innovators from the banking and IT sector, including state representatives, spoke at the largest sector-oriented conference in Slovakia, who, in addition to the latest trends in the financial world, also spoke about challenges and necessary legislative changes in order to support the creation of a new Central European innovation center.
Digital financial tools and services are developing at an incredible pace, but what we need is that they are not only innovative but also safe and user-friendly. The 6th edition of Finweek Bratislava – a three-day financial marathon, which took place from September 20 to 22 in Bratislava’s HubHub Twin City – was focused on these topics.
“Just as a few years ago we were talking about an online standing order in the bank that we would issue ourselves, today we are talking about blockchain solutions, decentralized finance or the cryptocurrency market – a completely new sector that is a huge opportunity for Slovakia. That is also why we are trying to get support in building a technological infrastructure, which will include a blockchain center operating on the basis of the fastest supercomputer in the world from Tachyum. The primary goal is to attract foreign investors and young minds, including those who went abroad years ago,” says Davy Čajko, founder of FINAS – Fintech & Insurtech Association of Slovakia, whose vision is also supported by Tachyum. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed for FINAS to fulfill its ambition to create an innovation hub focused on new financial technologies in Bratislava, which will have an impact on Slovakia. The competition in the region is strong, so I am glad that Tachyum can provide a unique technological advantage in this regard, which is a supercomputer with artificial intelligence on the scale of the human brain,” says Robert Cisár, Business Development Manager, Tachyum.
An important part of the conference was the discussion “CEE: opportunities in the innovation region”, the aim of which was to open a dialogue about the new innovation region in the field of fintech created in the CEE region. Shmuel Ben-Tovim, President & CEO of The Fintech Community of Israel, also sees great potential in this, and also in cooperation with Israeli companies. According to Pavel Čverha, Vice president at FINAS association & Lawyer at Prosman & Pavlovič, Slovakia can benefit mainly due to its central location within Europe: “Our goal is to make Bratislava a center for innovations that will attract investors. That’s why we created an ecosystem of 50 companies in Slovakia. Within this ecosystem, we are launching The Fintech Valley initiative and starting mutual cooperation between the V4 countries”.
Great opportunities can result from this dialogue. One of them is cooperation with the Ukrainian fintech association in the creation of a fintech hub in Bratislava. “This hub is part of our new project – The Fintech Valley Europe, and at the same time a step by which we will at least partially help our colleagues in Ukraine,” says Čverha. Binance also wants to support Slovak and Ukrainian startups. “We would like to cooperate on the creation of such a hub. We have to focus primarily on supporting the IT sector,” says Daniel Fekete, Binance. Shmuel Ben-Tovim considers mutual collaboration to be extremely important in the current situation. Benjamin Berényi (PastPay.io | Hungarian Fintech Association) also supports the initiative of cooperation between countries in the fintech sector, and he will be happy to participate in this project in the future, as does Rostyslav Dyuk, who greatly appreciates such steps toward Ukraine. “I support the initiative of connecting countries in fintech, and I will certainly welcome the idea of establishing a Slovak-Ukrainian fintech hub in Slovakia,” says Dyuk. He considers education to be of primary importance – according to him, the quality of regulation will grow with improved education. The same opinion is shared by FINAS, which, together with University of Economics in Bratislava, plans to prepare a new subject focused on fintech innovations.
According to Shmuel Ben-Tovim, fintech companies should feel strong support from the government. This, along with good cooperation with European countries, is also characteristic for Israeli fintech companies. “However, Israel lacks a sandbox in which we could test our ideas and products, and which would be an advantage for Slovakia,” says Ben-Tovim. According to Rostyslav Dyuk, new challenges in the fintech sector depend mainly on the speed of the government’s response. We also see this in the case of the war in Ukraine, where new technologies can literally save lives. It is no longer just a kind of “entertainment”, which is why, according to him, new European legislation on digital assets will be needed.
The banking sector, financial services and insurance sector currently contribute for up to 14.3% of Slovakia’s total GDP. Compared to other segments of the national economy, this segment is the largest producer of GDP. Even so, it lacks clear legislative rules that would properly grasp financial technologies and thus make Slovakia more attractive for foreign investors. Binance sees great potential in Slovak startups and would like to invest in some of them in the future. “We would like to stimulate the interest of Slovak companies in blockchain,” says Daniel Fekete, adding that the company welcomes the regulations. According to Martin Peter, Chairman of the Center for Financial Innovation at Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic is also aware of the problems with regulations and it is in his interest to deal with them. According to him, the solution could be PSD3 or digital ID, which would be effectively used by several sectors.
