Innovate Finance CEO Janine Hirt said Griffith, who is Economic Secretary to the UK Treasury, was responsible for “leading the modernization of the UK’s regulatory system, including a framework for cryptoassets and a proportionate pro-innovation approach to regulation”.

Citing the government and Bank of England-facilitated sale of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) to HSBC last month, he reiterated support for the fintech sector.

CBDCs

Referencing a digital currency consultation laid out in February, Griffith said the government is “making the UK a safe jurisdiction for cryptoasset activity” and “proactively supporting the introduction of DLT and tokenization wherever it makes sense”.

The topic was first floated in 2021, when then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said “it’s my ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country. This is part of our plan to ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation.”

Digital currencies were mentioned frequently by other speakers at IFGS. “The whole digital asset world in relation to tokenized deposits and CBDCs – that’s where we must go,” said Charles McManus, CEO, Clearbank.

Open Finance

On the heels of the successful implementation of the Kalifa Review, the Centre for Finance, Innovation, and Technology (CFIT) was established and has reportedly boosted the economy by some £710m.

“It’s central task is to bring together industry players – entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and academics – into coalitions to address some of the trickiest challenges facing the sector,” said Griffith.

He expressed enthusiasm for developing the open banking ecosystem in the UK. “This is a key moment for the open banking regulatory regime. The joint regulatory oversight committee has set out the next steps to ensure open banking continues to go from strength to strength. We are going to move open banking on to a sustainable regulatory framework which the government intends to develop through the data protection and Digital Identity Bill,” said Griffith.

Data was a hot topic in many of the panel discussions. “Data can radically empower businesses and individuals alike,” Griffith said, citing a Kinsey estimate that opening up financial data could boost UK GDP by 1.5% by 2030.

The full speech transcript can be read here.