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World Alliance of International Financial Centers

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World Alliance of International Financial Centers
AbbreviationWAIFC
FormationOctober 1, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-10-01)
TypeTrade association
Legal statusActive
PurposeFacilitate cooperation between leading international financial centers
HeadquartersCity of Brussels, Belgium
ServicesFinances
Membership
20 (plus 8 observers)
Official language
English
President
Jennifer Reynolds
Managing Director
Jochen Biedermann
Treasurer
Frederic de Laminne
Websitewaifc.finance

The World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) is a non-profit financial association based in Brussels, Belgium. Created in Paris in 2018, its goal is to facilitate mutual cooperation by representing the world's major financial centers.[1]

History

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In 2016 the financial centres of Paris, Frankfurt and Moscow proposed the creation of a non-profit association to facilitate cooperation and promote good practice and exchange with international public authorities. Two years later the association was founded as the World Alliance of International Financial Centres in Paris and was registered on October 1, 2018 in the city of Brussels by eleven financial centres from countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Russia, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.[1][2][3]

According to the newspapers Luxemburger Wort and L'Echo, the alliance was created "in order to strengthen collaboration between the centres leading to the development of a dialogue with public authorities based on financial technologies and sustainable development".[4] Arnaud de Bresson, executive director of the Paris Europlace organization, was elected as the first president, while Jochen Biedermann and Frederic de Laminne became managing director and treasurer respectively.[4][5] In January 2021, Jennifer Reynolds, President & CEO of Toronto Finance International, was elected as the first Chairwoman of the Alliance.[6] The initial eleven members were joined by centers from other territories such as Japan, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Qatar and the United Kingdom to form an 20-member alliance today.[7][8][9]

In view of the contingency generated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the association expressed in a publication the need to "reconsider economic models and give a new priority to long-term prospects and sustainable economy". Board member Hubertus Väth cited the financial centers of Tokyo and Hong Kong as examples for "successfully dealing with similar challenges in the past," referring to the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.[10][11] The text also called for concentrated efforts to develop technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to address contingency challenges.[12][13]

Overall focus

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WAIFC was created to bringing international financial centres under one organization to facilitate mutual cooperation, encourage the exchange of best practices, stimulate financial research and undertake projects that contribute to sustainable economic development. Currently the organization is in charge of conducting research projects with universities and private consulting companies, focusing on areas of action such as the development of financial technologies or fintech, data collection from financial centers and their contribution to green investment.[1][2]

Members

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The following organisations are or were full members of WAIFC:

Source:[16]

Observers

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The following were observers at WAIFC as of April 2024:

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bélgica y Luxemburgo, miembros destacados de la WAIFC" (in Spanish). Red de Oficinas Económicas y Comerciales de España. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  2. ^ a b "Financial Centres Promote Economic Development: AIFC Goes for Growth by Backing SMEs Globally". CFI.co. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  3. ^ "World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) launched". Frankfurt Main Finance. 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  4. ^ a b "L'alliance mondiale de centres financiers s'installe à Bruxelles". L'Echo (in French). 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  5. ^ "Arnaud De Bresson". Roscongress. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  6. ^ "International Business News". International Business Times. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  7. ^ "Qatar Financial Centre joins WAIFC". I Love Qatar. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  8. ^ Harada, Makoto (2020-04-06). "Finance experts note importance of workforce diversity, global collaboration". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  9. ^ "Qatar to become hub for fintechs eyeing India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: Al-Jaida". Gulf-Times. 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  10. ^ "Los centros financieros recomiendan cooperación y mirar respuestas al SARS". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  11. ^ "Alianza de Centros Financieros recomienda dejar de lado la competencia contra el #Covid19". Banca y Negocios (in Spanish). 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  12. ^ "WAIFC/CFC : Les centres financiers internationaux redéfinissent leurs priorités". Finances News Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  13. ^ "Coronavirus: Financial centres warn over protectionism risks". Sky News. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  14. ^ https://www.icex.es/es/quienes-somos/donde-estamos/red-exterior-de-comercio/lu/inicio.html
  15. ^ https://waifc.finance/news/waifc-welcomes-stuttgart-financial-as-a-new-member/
  16. ^ "Members and Observers - World Alliance of International Financial Centers". WAIFC. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
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