Tel Aviv, Israel – On February 26, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Israeli authorities, including the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Israel, Israel Securities Authority, the Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Authority, Ministry of Economy, Israel Innovation Authority, Ministry of Justice, and Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition held a joint meeting on financial innovation (fintech). The meeting included a stakeholder workshop, with more than 20 leading Israeli and multinational firms active across the fintech ecosystem, including in the areas of payments, lending, insurance, cloud computing, financial data analytics, and risk management.
Mitchell A. Silk, U.S. Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary for International Markets, Yitzhak Cohen, Israeli Deputy Minister of Finance and Shira Greenberg, Chief Economist of the Israeli Ministry of Finance said, “These discussions are a testament to the strong cooperation between the United States and Israel in supporting innovation in our financial sectors that promotes economic growth while safeguarding financial stability in both of our countries.”
U.S. and Israeli officials and private sector participants discussed a range of topics, including:
- The U.S. Treasury Report on Non-bank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation;
- Innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, the use of alternative data sources, digital payments, and cloud computing;
- The importance of cross-border data flows in financial services to financial innovation, economic growth, and financial stability; and
- The use of technology in regulation and supervision.
U.S. and Israeli officials agreed to continue discussions on issues related to compliance awareness for early stage fintech firms; cooperation on regulation and supervision of new technologies and business models; and data connectivity in financial services.
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