In an effort to understand better the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a technology-led transformation that is fundamentally altering the way people work, live and relate to one another – the World Economic Forum has prioritised a review of the financial system through the launch of a new initiative: Balancing Financial Stability, Innovation, and Economic Growth (FSIEG).

As part of this initiative, the Forum has held a series of roundtable discussions and completed interviews with industry executives and experts to examine the technological transformation taking place in financial services. This White Paper provides a summary of findings identified during the ongoing discussions and interviews, which at a very high level can be condensed in the following four points:

• Further major innovation-driven change is coming in financial services.
• Joint, concerted action is needed to enable the system to reap the benefits of innovation.
• Managing some systemic risks introduced by this wave of innovation poses challenges.
• The financial services system would benefit from certain tools to achieve greater enablement and risk management.

Report by the World Economic Forum