The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has opened the registration for its “ESMA Conference 2017”, scheduled to take place on 17 October 2017 in Paris, France.

The conference will bring together political decision makers, global regulators, and high-profile financial industry leaders to discuss the current hot topics facing the markets.

“Around 350 participants will discuss the state of European financial markets – including the key issues currently affecting the financial sector such as the macroeconomic environment, regulation, investor protection, innovation and last but not least Brexit”, the official website reads.

The conference will particularly focus on financial consumer protection against the background of financial innovation. It will discuss emerging technologies including blockchain and financial technologies.

Key speakers include:

• Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue as well as for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union.
• Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s Chief Brexit Negotiator
• Roberto Gualtieri, MEP, Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), European Parliament
• Ashley Alder, Chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
• Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE)
• Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

In its response to the European Commission consultation paper on “Fintech: a more competitive and innovative financial sector” sent last month, ESMA welcomed the initiative to take a stock-take of the EU’s Fintech industry. It sees fintech as a positive evolution as long as business models aim at improving financial consumer experiences and facilitate financial inclusion. ESMA also said that it continues to monitor market developments around distributed ledger technology (DLT) and looks into whether a regulatory response may become necessary.

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