**KUALA LUMPUR** — The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) has opened registration for the inaugural Asia Fintech Forum 2026, scheduled to take place on Friday, 2 October, at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.
The one-day summit, titled “Architecting Asia’s Financial Frontier: AI, Digital Assets, and Inclusive Banking,” is the first flagship event hosted by the Singapore-based nonprofit outside of its home country. The forum is expected to draw approximately 1,000 delegates and feature 40 speakers, including representatives from regulatory bodies, banking institutions, and fintech firms.
Chia Hock Lai, Chairman of the RFI, stated that the choice of Kuala Lumpur as the host city reflects the region’s rapid development in digital finance. “The risk is not that innovation outpaces regulation,” said Chia. “The risk is that a dozen regulators solve the same problem a dozen different ways, and the cost of that lands on consumers and on any firm trying to operate across borders.”
The event’s agenda focuses on the intersection of national rulemaking and regional interoperability, particularly in the context of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA). Key topics include agentic AI in financial services, stablecoin clearing and settlement, Islamic fintech, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and post-quantum cryptography migration.
Confirmed speakers include:
* **Mohammad Ridzuan Abdul Aziz**, CEO of Aeon Bank
* **Aaron Tang**, General Manager of Luno Malaysia
* **Kenneth Chan**, CEO of Webull Malaysia
* **Victoria Wymark**, PwC South East Asia
* **Affendi Rashdi**, Director-General, Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA)
* **Ja’afar Rihan**, Head of Islamic Business Development, LFSA
Remi Technology, a Singapore-headquartered cross-border settlement provider, is the title sponsor for the event. Sam Su, CEO and co-founder of Remi Technology, noted that the forum aims to facilitate dialogue between regulators and financial institutions regarding settlement infrastructure.
Farah Jaafar, co-chair of the organizing committee and an Independent Non-Executive Director of Webull Securities (Malaysia), stated that the forum highlights Malaysia’s growing role in the regional fintech landscape, citing the country’s mature Islamic finance ecosystem and regulatory environment.
The event is supported by various industry organizations, including the Labuan Financial Services Authority, the International Digital Economics Association, and several regional fintech associations from Thailand, the Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia.
Registration and further information regarding the event are available at https://asiafintech.org/.
Article and image source: hongkongherald.com
