CFTC Opens Registration for First Fintech Conference

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will host its first-ever fintech conference, Oct. 3-4, at its headquarters in Washington D.C. Registration for the event is now open.

The CFTC's LabCFTC and the Office of Customer Education and Outreach have teamed up to welcome innovators, regulators, market participants, thought-leaders and the general public to explore a variety of fintech developments-including crypto assets, machine learning, cloud technologies, regtech and other financial technologies-at its first-ever fintech conference.

The event, dubbed "FinTech Forward 2018: Innovation, Regulation and Education," will focus on key tech developments within in the financial space and explore the impact these technologies may have on both markets and customers.

The event will discuss how regulators should remain forward looking to mitigate risks as well as educate customers and market participants.

It will also identify emerging opportunities, risks and challenges.

"This conference is in line with many CFTC efforts to keep market participants informed of new financial products and services. The CFTC's dynamic approach to coordination helps staff engage across offices in order to maximize our efficacy for the marketplace, rather than being siloed. Our customer education efforts are closely coordinated with LabCFTC in order to keep pace with developments in the markets the CFTC regulates, and we look forward to the dialogue that happens at this conference, which will help us continue to develop cutting-edge resources to help customers protect themselves against fraud and manipulation in the marketplace."

While FinTech Forward 2018 is set to bring in a plethora of industry leaders, a number of speakers have already signed on for the event including CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo, who will be delivering the keynote address, and Rep. Austin Scott, who will deliver concluding remarks on the first day.

Additional speakers will be announced at a later date; however, Reps.

Opportunities to speak with staff from the CFTC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, National Futures Association, Federal Reserve Board, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority will also be available.