The UK is moving too slowly in emerging areas like stablecoins, purring London’s world-leading fintech sector at risk, says Janine Hirt

London has long been a global leader in fintech, a position built on a history of innovation and a welcoming environment for startups. This success was fuelled by a pro-growth approach to policy and regulation following the 2008 financial crisis, which encouraged competition and the use of technology to create a more democratic and inclusive financial sector.

For over a decade, founders from the UK and beyond have chosen to build their companies here, turning fintech into a powerful engine of economic growth for the entire country. In fact, fintechs are responsible for more than 60 per cent of all lending to small and medium-sized businesses and have produced some of the UK’s largest unicorns.

Despite this success, a recent Global Financial Centres Index showed a growing number of international financial professionals believe London’s fintech sector is losing ground to competitors like Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Singapore.

The risk of other countries catching up has been a known issue, but it has been overshadowed by the years of massive investment into UK fintech. For a long time, the total amount of venture capital funding raised by UK fintechs was greater than the rest of Europe........

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