eXponential Finance

In this episode, Binur Zhalenov will share his experience as the Chief Executive Officer of one of the most significant FinTech R&D companies in Central Asia and the Caucasus region. Leading the Payment and Financial Technologies Center of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Binur’s research focus is concentrated around payment innovations and artificial intelligence applications for macroeconomic modeling.

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In this episode, we are going to take a close look at the FinTech ecosystem in Brazil. If you have not had this market on your radar screen yet, that likely changed with the record-breaking IPO of Nubank on the New York Stock Exchange towards the end of last year, making the company the largest digital banking platform outside of Asia.

The second focus of our conversation will be the work of the Brazilian Central Bank, which has been executing on a variety of initiatives at once, from Open Banking to a fast payments system called PIX, to a pilot of a central bank digital currency to commence soon.

Bruno Diniz is a partner at Spiralem Innovation Consulting, and Director of the Financial Data & Technology Association (FDATA) for Latin America. Bruno is also a columnist for magazines such as Exame magazine, FEBRABAN's Noomis portal and Cointelegraph, in addition to being a professor of innovation focused on the financial market at the USP/ESALQ MBA, speaker and author of the books "O Fenômeno Fintech" and " The New Financial Logic".

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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DIA is a decentralized, open-source data and oracle platform for DeFi that enables market actors to source, supply and share trustable data. DeFi applications are reliant on trustable and scalable data feeds to build reliable products and avoid exploitation and manipulation. DIA leverages crypto-economic incentives and the wisdom of the community to source, validate and deliver trusted financial data.

Paul Claudius is one of the Co-Founders of DIA and a Board Member of the DIA Association. 

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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In Japan it's called the "Ghosn Shock"—the stunning arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the jet-setting CEO who saved Nissan and made it part of a global automotive empire.

Even more shocking was his daring escape from Japan, packed into a box and put on a private jet to Lebanon after months spent in a Japanese detention center, subsisting on rice gruel.

This is the saga of what led to the Ghosn Shock and what was left in its wake. Ghosn spent two decades building a colossal partnership between Nissan and Renault that looked like a new model for a global business, but the alliance's shiny image fronted an unsteady, tense operation. Culture clashes, infighting among executives and engineers, dueling corporate traditions, and government maneuvering constantly threatened the venture.

Journalists Hans Greimel and William Sposato have followed the story up close, with access to key players, including Ghosn himself. Veteran Tokyo-based reporters, they have witnessed the end of Japan's bubble economy and attempts at opening Japan Inc. to the world. They've seen the fraying of keiretsu, Japan's traditional skein of business relationships, and covered numerous corporate scandals, of which the Ghosn Shock and Ghosn's subsequent escape stand above all.

Expertly reported, Collision Course explores the complex suspicions around what and who was really responsible for Ghosn's ouster and why one of the top executives in the world would risk everything to escape the country. It explains how economics, history, national interests, cultural politics, and hubris collided, crumpling the legacy of arguably the most important foreign businessman ever to set foot in Japan.

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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Code Chrysalis is a software engineering immersive and consultancy in Tokyo, teaching computer science fundamentals and modern web application development through a project-based curriculum that promotes career longevity, autonomy, and teamwork.

Yan Fan is a co-founder and chief technology officer of Code Chrysalis, and Mio Maeshima a recent graduate. In this conversation, we are looking at software engineering and computer science, the role of diversity, and the digital skills gap that Japan is facing. With Maeshima-san being a trained translator and interpreter, we are also touching on the transformation of one’s own career, possibly later in life, and the role bootcamps like Code Chrysalis can play in such transitions.

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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Romain Zanolo, Managing Director APAC, Financial Institutions at IDEMIA, discusses with us the payments & identity landscape across Asia.

- What is augmented identity?

- The value proposition for FinTech startups to work with IDEMIA and other companies made accessible through Visa's Partner Connect program

- How Razer FinTech used IDEMIA to launch the "hottest" payment card in Singapore

- How JCB and Digital Garage apply IDEMIA technology in Japan

- Whether and how Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) might change the payments game

IDEMIA is the global leader in Augmented Identity. IDEMIA provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities in the physical as well as digital space.

On top of his expertise in the payment industry, Romain has a strong experience in corporate financial advisory, including valuation, financial modeling, transaction support advisory and strategic consulting. He is also a FinTech start-up mentor at Plug and Play Tech Center in Singapore.

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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Chea Srun is a French national with a distinguished career in derivatives trading, having worked and lived in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul, and being able to converse professionally in all three languages. Chea is the Founder & CEO of X-Quant, a startup that got accepted into the Seoul FinTech Lab accelerator last year. In addition to his experience with the program, we talk a bit about Chea's trading career, his transition into entrepreneurship, and the use cases XQuant has been developing to support OTC derivatives transactions/reporting as well as the extraction of ESG insights. Lastly, Chea is a strong supporter of Tunisia, where most of his data science team is located - he explains why the country is a good source for talent, and offers helps for anyone who wishes to be connected there. 

The Seoul Fintech Lab was established in 2019 and since then, has been funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. To date, close to 100 FinTech startups, including 26 foreign companies, have been supported through the incubation program. The Seoul Fintech Lab aims to help accelerate FinTech companies’ growth with its global network of over 300 partners and mentors, which include highly experienced investors, entrepreneurs and regulators. In that regard, the Seoul program possibly differs from similar regional programs — from the outset, it has been designed to allow for pan-Asian and even global expansion while promoting the growth of the domestic ecosystem.

The applications for the 2021 batch are open until June 4th, and the selection process will be completed by June 18th — so you will not have to wait long for a decision. You can find all the detail for registration here: https://seoulfintechlab.kr/news/4485/?prev=news-notice

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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Mihir Gandhi is a Partner in the Consulting practice of PwC India and leads the Payments Transformation practice. With close to 15 years of consulting experience, he has developed a strong business and technology consulting exposure in India and international markets including the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia.

Mihir has been part of the digital payments growth story of India and has successfully led marquee projects. He has managed the core team to set up the domestic card scheme of India. He has assisted new private sector banks and payments banks for setup of payments products, guiding them on strategy through execution. His practice has recently published the “India Payments Handbook 2020-2025”, a thorough review of the payments ecosystem in India, and also puts out a regular newsletter on the subject.

Please see our LinkedIn post for the Payments Handbook: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6750989437779505152

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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María Guajardo's passion is to do the greatest good for those with the greatest need; and to develop the next generation of global leaders. She served as Vice-President at Soka University, Tokyo, Japan, as the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of International Liberal Arts, and is recipient of the Soka University Award of Highest Honor. Soka University is one of eleven private universities with the distinction of being named a Super Global University by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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Manuel Silva Martinez oversees Mouro’s strategy, investor relations, resources and processes as the General Partner authorised by the FCA, with his day-to-day investment activity focusing more on UK, Europe and Latin America. Manuel sits on the boards of a55, bonify and Crosslend and, as observer, of Autofi, Creditas, Curve, Elliptic, Klar, Roostify and Tradeshift, among others. Manuel has been investing in fintech since 2010, having spent 5 years in San Francisco with BBVA Ventures (now Propel VC) before moving to London in 2015. He is a hiking enthusiast, world traveler and wine aficionado.

Mouro Capital is a venture capital firm with $400M assets under management that targets early to growth fintech investment opportunities across Europe, North America and Latin America. Until 2020, it was operating as the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Santander, Santander InnoVentures, before spinning out as an independent entity with Santander as Limited Partner. 

Produced in collaboration with Tokyo FinTech. If you have an interesting story to share with our audience, and would like to appear on the podcast, please contact us via [email protected]

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