Top speakers such as Deutsche Bank Supervisory Chairman Paul Achleitner, SIX CEO Jos Jijsselhof and Prime Minister Adrian Hasler shed light on the future of the financial sector at the 5th Finance Forum Liechtenstein. The event was sold out with 600 participants.
The Finance Forum Liechtenstein is the best-known dialogue and image platform for the Liechtenstein financial center. The 5th edition last Wednesday was titled “Disruption in the Financial Industry 2019” and addressed the challenges for financial service providers in Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
The conference was opened by Liechtenstein’s head of government Adrian Hasler, who campaigned for an open approach to change. “Keeping up with the latest developments keeps them disruptive and can be used as opportunities,” said Hasler.
The financial science of tomorrow
The trend researcher Stephan Sigrist looked into the future of financial services: In his interactive presentation, he showed how technological innovations are changing the financial industry, and which requirements customers will in future make of their bank or insurance.
The keynote speech was given by Paul Achleitner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank. He commented on the disruption in the banking industry and commented on the margins of the meeting also to a merger of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. “We are not too big to fail, but too small to scale,” said Achleitner. It depends on the size.
Global economy out of joint
Achleitner also took part in the discussion with leading officials from Switzerland and Liechtenstein. On the podium, Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, CEO of LGT Group, Markus Neuhaus, Chairman of the Board of PwC Switzerland / Liechtenstein, and Mario Frick, Chairman of Bank Frick, together with Achtleitner discussed the future of the financial industry and the impact of Brexit on the UK and Europe.
The Swiss economist and UBS Board member Beatrice Weder di Mauro asked if the global economy had gotten out of hand. In a video, she showed how the center of the global economy is increasingly shifting eastwards and that both Europe and the USA are losing importance. In addition, Weder di Mauro recommended in the Brexit discussion a new referendum on Britain’s exit from the EU.
In talking with moderator Reto Lipp, Jos Dijsselhof, CEO of the Swiss stock exchange operator SIX, talked about the digitization of financial services. He presented innovations such as the planned digital exchange on blockchain basis and highlighted synergies for the banks. In Fintech Flash, Olga Feldmeier, CEO of Smartvalor, and Florian Batliner-Staber, co-founder of Own, explained how their startups want to shake up the financial industry and why they have settled in Liechtenstein.
The conclusion of the meeting was denied brain researcher Lutz Jäncke. The professor of neuropsychology at the University of Zurich showed the latest findings from brain research from the point of view of executives.
Important networking aperitif
Around 600 finance experts from Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland watched the conference in the Vaduzer Saal. The participants were able to get involved by giving their opinion on current topics in voting. The survey showed a positive mood. After the program part, the participants could exchange ideas at the networking apero.
The Finance Forum Liechtenstein is an event platform for the financial sector in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The conference is sponsored by the government of Liechtenstein, event organizer Skunk. Various partners support the event; Cooperation partners are the central associations of the Liechtenstein financial center. In the run-up to the conference, the participants were able to attend various workshops free of charge.