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APIFS Reflections from Georgetown: Financial Markets Quality Conference 2025

【Washington, Sep 26 2025】 – Honored to be in Washington, D.C. for the Financial Markets Quality Conference 2025 at Georgetown University.

This year’s conference brought together a distinguished lineup of keynote speakers whose careers span regulation, central banking, capital markets, and global finance:

Paul Atkins — Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Rostin Behnam (C’00) — Distinguished Fellow, Psaros Center; Former Chairman, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Michelle Bowman — Vice Chair for Supervision, Federal Reserve Board
Lael Brainard — Distinguished Fellow, Psaros Center; Former Director, White House National Economic Council
Patrick McHenry — Distinguished Fellow, Psaros Center; Former Chairman, House Financial Services Committee
David Schwimmer — Chief Executive Officer, London Stock Exchange Group
David Solomon — Chairman & CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Their perspectives converged on one central theme: trust, resilience, and regulatory clarity are the foundations for healthy markets in an era of rapid technological change.

Insights for Digital Assets and Market Innovation

Keynotes highlighted how digital assets, stablecoins, and tokenization are reshaping capital markets. From ETF history to crypto regulation, speakers reminded us that innovation requires clear rules, credible institutions, and proportionate risk frameworks.

For example:

Rostin Behnam emphasized the need for regulatory agility as technology drives derivatives and crypto innovation.
Michelle Bowman and Lael Brainard underscored the importance of sound supervision and coherent frameworks to balance growth with safety.
Patrick McHenry reflected on his legislative experience advancing clarity for crypto, fintech, and AI, pushing for bipartisan approaches to market modernization.
David Schwimmer and David Solomon reinforced how traditional finance and digital assets will increasingly coexist, with investor trust as the critical determinant of adoption.

Relevance for Asia: Hong Kong and Singapore

At APIFS, these insights resonate strongly with the evolving strategies in Hong Kong and Singapore：

Hong Kong has moved decisively with its Securities and Futures Commission licensing framework for exchanges and stablecoin issuers. While Washington continues to debate jurisdictional clarity, Hong Kong has prioritized retail protection and disclosure standards. The challenge ahead is ensuring interoperability of tokenized assets and avoiding liquidity fragmentation.
Singapore, through the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is embedding crypto into financial infrastructure via Project Guardian and a principle-based stablecoin regulatory framework. By clarifying reserve standards, redemption rights, and auditability, Singapore provides the certainty that encourages institutional adoption. Its unified regulatory architecture offers a model of coherence compared to U.S. fragmentation.

APIFS Perspective

The message from Washington is clear: digital assets are not an alternative system, but a strategic extension of global capital markets. For Asia’s financial hubs, the opportunity lies in learning from the U.S. debates while building frameworks that inspire confidence globally.

Hong Kong must focus on interoperability and global integration.
Singapore must continue leveraging its sandbox and experimentation approach to stay at the forefront of tokenization.
Both must maintain proportionate enforcement and avoid overregulation that could stifle innovation.

At APIFS, we view crypto and tokenization as strategic levers for capital market development, and we remain committed to advising on governance, compliance, and innovation pathways that keep Asia competitive in the digital era.

For more information about upcoming events and executive programs, please visit www.apifs.org.

About APIFS

The Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy (APIFS) is a leading management and strategy advisory institute based in Hong Kong, dedicated to helping organizations achieve growth through leadership development, strategic advisory, and applied research.

Media Contact:

Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy

Email: cs@apifs.net

Tel: (852) 3970 1828

Website: www.apifs.org

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