Peter Oakes

We work to ensure financial markets work well for individuals, for businesses and for the economy as a whole. We do this by: - regulating the conduct of approximately 50,000 businesses - prudentially supervising 48,000 firms - setting specific standards for around 18,000 firms We were set up on 1 April 2013, taking over conduct and relevant prudential regulation from the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Our Head Office is based in London, and we work across the UK, from our office in Edinburgh and via colleagues in Belfast and Cardiff. Firms and individuals must be authorised or registered by us to carry out certain activities. Before we grant authorisation, firms must demonstrate that they meet a range of requirements. We then supervise these firms to make sure they continue to meet our standards and rules after they’re authorised. If firms and individuals fail to meet these standards, we have a range of enforcement powers we can use. We work alongside the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the prudential regulator of around 1,500 banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms.

DigitalAssets.Africa is about empowering the adoption of digital assets in Africa. We are a group of individuals sharing ideas and information with African businesses and individuals seeking to innovate financial services through digital assets. We are working with a selection of African businesses on commercial offerings for deployment in Africa and internationally. "Digital Assets are mainly used as a way to solve problems associated with limited access to formal banking systems and poor financial inclusion. Digital Assets are mainly used for cross-border remittances – especially in countries where capital controls make moving fiat difficult – and to transfer money quicker and cheaper than traditional payments methods." Peter Oakes, Founder, DigitalAssets.Africa

CompliReg = Compliance & Regulatory Experts. We specialise in financial services and fintech regulation and regtech. We offer three core services: Regulatory Licensing; Business Establishment; and Regulatory Compliance. Our team comprise of senior professionals in financial services, including board director roles at regulated financial institutions across Europe; accounting and legal experts; experienced chief risk & compliance officers and MLROs and a former international central banker and financial regulator (Ireland, UK, Australia and Middle-East). Founded by Peter Oakes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteroakes/) and Joe Lavelle (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-lavelle-3875a129/). Visit www.complireg.com for more information.

Privacy Ireland (www.privacyireland.com) - your data, your right - has been launched. Having worked as a central banker/regulator, lawyer, GRC professional & now board director, it is becoming increasingly apparent that an initiative like Privacy Ireland is needed to help with thought leadership, exchange of views & learnings among the business community.

Fintech UK (www.fintechuk.com & @fintechuk_HQ) promotes, supports & facilitates the #UKFINTECH scene through holding events and speaking at events hosted by others. Our objective is to advance UK's unique ability, and leverage its capacity, to become and remain a global centre for fintech. Fintech UK and Fintech Ireland are complementary. There is an excellent business corridor between these two great nations and we aim to help this gateway (BIG = British Irish Gateway). Through FintechUK, I work with the founders, boards & executives of the companies where I am a non-executive director to assist and hone their strategies, business models and introduce them to sources of funding like venture capital, private equity, seed funding and innovation hubs. I also have a particular interest in RegTech (Regulatory Technology). I utilise my unique skill set of banking, payments, regulation and fintech (and former senior regulator in Ireland, the UK and Australia) to advise firms on regulatory issues facing the fintech sector, e.g. Authorisation/Licensing, Payments Services Directive, 4th AML Directive and Data Protection Regulations and everything else in between. We receive many queries from #startups, #entrepreneurs, #government and #investors looking to get involved in the fintech scene in the UK from setting up in the UK, getting a regulatory licence and finance. We are happy to assist where we can. Our email is hello@fintechuk.com. Check us out on twitter at @fintechuk_hq.