Birmingham Business School and the Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money Special Issue Conference: Developments in Financial Technology

Please note that this conference has been postponed and will now not be taking place from 22-23 June. New dates for this event will be released soon.

Keynote speaker

Professor Carol Alexander, Professor of Finance at the University of Sussex Business School and Co-Editor of Journal of Banking and Finance.

Conference Chairs and Guest Editors

• Douglas Cumming
  College of Business, Florida Atlantic University and Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham
• Hisham Farag
  Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham Business School
• Sofia Johan
  College of Business, Florida Atlantic University

Overview 

In the wake of the high level of political, regulatory and economic uncertainty along with recent challenges and developments in climate change, clean technology and green finance, new contributions in Financial Technology (FinTech) will significantly change the landscape of sources of finance for businesses. Digital technologies have begun to disrupt, banking and insurance markets and will continue to shape the financial sector over the coming years. The FinTech revolution was sparked by the introduction of crowdfunding and alternative sources of finance. Over the past decade, online marketplaces have become an important source of credit for businesses. Following several years of rapid growth, marketplace lenders today originate 25% of all business loans in the United States (US) and are an important source of finance for new entrepreneurs. A key advantage of marketplaces over traditional financial intermediaries for entrepreneurs is they provide faster and cheaper access to credit, which enables start-up and business growth. However, despite accounting for approximately 30% of outstanding unsecured credit, little attention has been paid to whether online marketplaces systematically affect entrepreneurship and the overall impact on financial institutions and world economies. This issue is important for assessing the implications of the FinTech lending expansion and the ramifications of marketplaces displacing traditional financial intermediaries. This research theme embodies the effects of different types of crowdfunding (equity-based and reward-based), and issues related to how the nascent FinTech sector influences the banking industry, financial institutions and regulatory bodies. Understanding how the rapidly expanding FinTech industry affects these sectors, and consumer welfare, are top priorities for the design of regulation. The objective of this special issue conference is to promote both theoretical and empirical research on the challenges and opportunities, developments and dynamics of FinTach and its impact on financial institutions.

Call for papers

Submission details

• Interested authors should submit two versions of their paper, one including author information and one with no identifying information to: jifmimconference@contacts.bham.ac.uk  by 31 August 2020. Early submissions are encouraged and will be reviewed earlier.
• Registration fees £250 including full access to conference papers and gala dinner at the Edgbaston Park Hotel. Registration fees for PhD students is £150.
• Papers will be reviewed anonymously.

At the authors’ option, papers that become finalists for acceptance to the conference can be considered for publication at the JIFMIM.  The rules for the dual submission process are as follows:

• Authors must expressly indicate interest in consideration by the JIFMIM.
• At the discretion of the BBS-JIFMIM Guest Editors, papers that are among the final group of manuscripts considered for acceptance to the conference will be invited to submit to the JIFMIM.  At that time authors will be asked to pay a standard submission fee, and the submission will be formally reviewed.  
• Papers submitted for dual consideration must not be under review at another journal or the JIFMIM, nor can they be considered for dual submission if previously rejected by the JIFMIM.
• In the event that a dual submission that has been invited to submit to the JIFMIM is subsequently rejected, its authors have the option to submit a future version of their paper to the JIFMIM without prejudice.
• While under consideration as a dual submission by the Conference and the JIFMIM, a paper may not be submitted to another journal (or the JIFMIM) until, the author has been notified of the dual submission outcome.

Suggested topics

Possible topics/research questions include, but are not limited to:

• What are the characteristics and the new developments in FinTech?
• What is the influence of FinTech on different types of financial institutions (banks, VCs, insurance, stock markets, etc)?
• What are the main determinants for the developments in crowdfunding and other alternative innovative sources of finance?
• What is the role of regulations and prudential supervisors to enhance corporate governance and promote FinTech?
• How FinTech and the emerging new technologies would lead to substantial enhancements in entrepreneurship?
• What is the expected impact of FinTech on corporate innovation, culture and sustainability?
• What is the economic impact of FinTech on the development of Alternative Finance?
• How FinTech would lead to substantial enhancements to access of funds for SMEs and Private equity funds? 
• How FinTech would substantially improves financial inclusivity worldwide?
• What is the socio–economic impact of FinTech and what is the influence on the banking sector and stock markets liquidity and volatility?

Maps & Directions

The conference will take place on the University’s self-contained, landscaped campus situated a few miles south of the city centre. 

• Download a campus map

Accommodation

Campus-based Hotels

Edgbaston Park Hotel

Rooms are available from £109 per night with breakfast or at £90 per night with breakfast if you book by the 26/04/2019, quoting code DAF19. Please call the Reservations team on: 0121 625 3383, quoting code DAF19
https://www.edgbastonparkhotel.com/ 

City centre based hotels

Discounted rates (and further information on visiting Birmingham) are available to the JCF conference delegates via: https://book.passkey.com/go/DAF2019