Russian and Japanese fintech associations sign MOU to exchange blockchain expertise

The Russian FinTech Association has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Fintech Association of Japan, local news outlet Finversia reported.

Under the terms of the MOU, the parties intend to jointly explore and put into practice the most promising global financial technologies. They will exchange and share experience in the development of financial technologies, primarily blockchain, as well as analytical and research materials.

In the future, they plan to prepare a number of programs aimed at developing fintech ecosystems of Russia and Japan.

In December 2016, the Bank of Russia announced that its representatives, along with financial market participants, approved the decision to set up a FinTech Association. In October 2017, Tatyana Zharkova was appointed as Managing Director of the FinTech Association.

Commenting on the MOU, Zharkova noted that Japan is one of the first countries in the world where financial technologies are regulated at the legislative level.

“The experience of Japanese colleagues is interesting to us from the point of view of creating and using a legal framework,” Zharkova said.

She added that the Russian FinTech Association will share its experience of creating the Masterchain blockchain platform with the Japanese counterpart. Zharkova said that the Masterchain platform “could become the basis of Russia's national blockchain infrastructure” in the future.

Hiroki Maruyama, Chairman of the Board of the Fintech Association of Japan, stressed that the signing of the MOU will contribute to the development of a constructive dialogue between the professional communities of the two countries.

In October 2018, the Fintech Association of Japan signed a MOU with Hong Kong Internet Finance Association (HKIFA), a Hong Kong-based fintech organization, and Mena Fintech Association (MFTA), a Middle East/North Africa-based Fintech organization.