Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) flagship Fintech Abu Dhabi Festival kicks off tomorrow with an eagerly awaited agenda packed with over 200 speakers, 80 sessions and 40 hours of content shaping the global fintech landscape. The event will be attended by the world’s foremost policy and decision makers, fintech innovators, unicorns, financial sector leaders, and investors. The fifth edition of the Middle East’s largest Fintech festival will take place from 22 to 24 November 2021 in an exciting hybrid format, with the physical event hosted at ADGM. The agenda for the Festival can be accessed here: Fintech Abu Dhabi 2021.

The virtual platform of the Festival is seeing record-breaking international interest in comparison to previous years, with three times more registrations and participants flying in from 41 different countries.

This year’s Festival features 14 different forums and segments, including return of the highly successful Innovation Challenge, Fintech100, Investor Forum, Government Fintech Forum, Youth Circle, Fintech Awards, as well as exciting new forums:

• CxO21, a digital banking innovation summit that delves into the world of corporate innovation and digital banking;
• Token, focusing on the fast-evolving world of digital assets and currencies;
• Fintech for Good, a dedicated forum taking a closer look at the intersection of sustainability, Fintech and innovation;
• Fintech Souk, a close look at cutting-edge developments in retail and payments; and
• Risk4.0, a forum focussing on risk management in Fintech and financial security.

Having marked its largest gathering in 2020, this year’s Festival promises to be even bigger and better comprising a stellar line-up of speakers. These include:

• H.E. Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM
• H.E. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development
• H.E. Dr Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board, Arab Monetary Fund
• H.E. Mohamed Alabbar, Founder & Managing Director of Emaar
• Jeff Sprecher, Founder of ICE and Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange
• John Collison, Co-founder & President, Stripe
• Bill Winters, Group CEO of Standard Chartered Bank
• Hana Al Rostamani, Group CEO of First Abu Dhabi Bank
• Sandeep Chouhan, Group CEO of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
• Dr Bernd Van Linder, Group CEO of Commercial Bank of Dubai
• Akon, musician turned fintech entrepreneur
• Nuseir Yasin of Nas Daily fame
• Kevin O’Leary, entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist and star of four-time Emmy award-winning television show Shark Tank.
• Brady Dougan, Founder and CEO of Exos and former Group CEO of Credit Suisse
• Annerie Vreugdenhil, Chief Innovation Officer of ING
• Claire Calmejane, Chief Innovation Officer of Societe Generale
• Chris Bayliss, Co-founder, Judo Bank
• Mohamed Okasha, Co-founder, Fawry
• Bhavin Turakhia, CEO & Founder, Zeta
• Simon Loong, CEO, WeLab
• Larry Diamond, CEO & Founder, Zip
• Yorick Naef, CEO, Bux
• Fariz Khalid, CEO, Noon

Reinforcing the value and significance of FinTech Abu Dhabi’s rapid emergence as a platform, the festival is supported by local and global partners, the platinum partners comprises Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. The gold partners comprises Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Ports, Mashreq Bank, the Authority of Social Contribution – Ma’an, Maven Global Access, Access Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Stripe, Invest In Malta. The silver partners category comprises China Telecom, DLA Piper, Hub 71, Mubadala Health, OneConnect Financial Technology, Our Crowd, Securrency, Rain, Tinubu Square. In addition to the strategic partners Abu Dhabi Airports, The Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Plug and Play Abu Dhabi, ADGM Academy, Etihad Airways, and Arab Monetary Fund. The media partners are CNBC International, The National, SME10x, The Fintech Times, Voice of Fintech, Capital Monitor, Al-Ain news, Al Roeya and Abu Dhabi Media.

Commenting on this year’s Festival, His Excellency Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM, said: “Given the rapid pace of transformation across the financial services sector, continued knowledge-sharing on how best to address and embrace these changes is crucial. We at ADGM take great pride in hosting the region’s largest Fintech festival alongside esteemed colleagues, respected decision makers, and leading financial sector and Fintech representatives. This year’s Fintech Abu Dhabi Festival will bear no exception to past editions in its aspiration to be inspiring, thought-provoking, and transformative, underpinned by a commitment to highlight Abu Dhabi as a global capital for financial innovation, investment, and regulatory excellence.”

The 2021 edition of the Festival has taken a significant step forward in growth and influence as a global platform, and for the first time will host the CEOs and Chairmen of multiple major financial institutions as well as the founders of some of the world’s most promising start-ups.

The Festival will be presented as an invite-only, leadership first physical forum in the ADGM, with digital broadcast. The physical gathering is set to be the most influential gathering of financial leadership in the region in 2021.

ADGM welcomes all interested participants to register for the Fintech Abu Dhabi 2021 virtual event and to be part of the conversations shaping the future of finance.