Summary
City Week is back for its 15th annual edition! Held in-person over three days in London from 30 June to 2 July, as well as being live-streamed around the world, this year’s edition is taking place at a time of significant geopolitical developments that are set to have a profound effect on trade and investment flows, as well as the financial markets that support them.
Organised in partnership with the UK Government, the City of London Corporation, TheCityUK, UK Finance and leading City institutions, this year’s edition will analyse all the current change drivers in international finance and their implications for financial institutions. At the heart of CW2025 are three separate summits on Net Zero Finance, Artificial Intelligence in Finance and Digital Assets/Tokenisation. All three programmes take innovation as their central theme and reflect the boardroom agenda of leading financial institutions.
Renowned for its content-rich agenda, exceptional speakers and unrivalled networking opportunities, City Week has become a must-attend event for senior decision-makers from not only the UK but also from all the other major financial centres. More than 1,000 delegates attend this comprehensive week of cutting-edge presentations, panel discussions, social events and networking. Like previous editions, this year’s forum will feature many well-known names from the global financial services industry, the world of politics and the international regulatory community.
30th June
The Net Zero Finance Innovation Summit
How do you reconcile the competing requirements of a pro-growth agenda, energy security and net zero against the backdrop of a rapidly warming planet? The case for the energy transition and decarbonisation is overwhelming for purely economic reasons. Against this background, this day brings together government ministers, regulators and leaders of financial institutions from across the world to discuss the huge opportunity that financing energy transition and decarbonisation presents, as well as the latest innovations in financing net zero.
Speakers include: Emma Reynolds MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, HM Treasury; Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity; Tim Adams, President and CEO, The Institute of International Finance; Juergen Maier, Chair, Great British Energy; Sir Douglas Flint CBE, Chair, abrdn; and Dame Julia Hoggett, DBE, CEO, London Stock Exchange plc
1st July
The AI and Digital Innovation Summit
This summit explores the real-world applications of Gen AI for financial institutions and the huge potential for the industry of the next phase of AI, Agentic AI. It will also provide a detailed analysis of all the related issues, including regulation, data governance, AI infrastructure, the impact on financial markets and specific financial products, international developments and risk management. Top AI experts will share their insights, global regulators will discuss emerging AI regulation and financial services leaders will discuss current and future AI applications.
Speakers include: Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade; Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology; Darren Hardman, CEO, Microsoft UK; Leon Butler, General Manager, UK and Ireland, IBM; Zahra Bahrololoumi CBE, CEO, Salesforce UK and Ireland; and Vishal Marria, CEO and Founder, Quantexa
2nd July
The Digital Assets Innovation Summit
This year’s program focuses on the latest developments in digital assets, the growing role of tokenisation, and the evolving landscape of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. The U.S. is very supportive of crypto, while the UK and other jurisdictions are establishing their own regimes. The tokenisation of financial assets through distributed ledgers and blockchain will shift the way that assets are managed and leveraged, while digital assets will transform the way that capital and financial markets work. This international summit brings together innovators and traditional financial firms to map out the future of financial markets and the challenges ahead.
Speakers include: The Honorable Caroline D. Pham, Acting Chairman, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission; Hester Peirce, Commissioner, US Securities and Exchange Commission; Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director, Financial Conduct Authority; Sasha Mills, Executive Director, Financial Market Infrastructure, Bank of England; Ryan Hayward, Head of Digital Assets and Strategic Investments, Barclays; and Dr Robert Oleschak, Advisor and Member of the Management Board, Swiss National Bank
- taxbit
“Through the institutional adoption, we see a trend of using blockchain for also traditional financial instruments”
As somebody who's deeply involved in crypto tax compliance and reporting, do you think that the regulatory approach of different jurisdictions such as the EU, the US and Asia are converging or diverging when it comes to crypto assets and digital assets? And do you see a path towards greater alignment, or will we continue to have a fragmented regulatory environment?
- Clifford Chance
UK CRYPTOASSET REGULATION: WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED REGIME?
This article was first published on www.cliffordchance.com/ on 8 May 2025.
On 29 April 2025, HM Treasury (HMT) published a draft statutory
instrument which will create a new UK regulatory regime for
cryptoassets, including stablecoins. An accompanying policy
note has also been published. Technical comments can be
submitted by 23 May 2025, with the legislation due to be finalised
by the end of the year.
Qatar Financial Centre
Laying The Groundwork for Qatar’s Digital Assets Sector
In this article, Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC, highlights Qatar’s strategic focus on digital innovation, particularly in the realm of financial services, and elaborates upon QFC’s pioneering ‘Digital Assets Lab’ initiative that paves the way for the development of a digital assets sector in Qatar, accelerating the nation’s transformation into a centre of excellence for financial services and innovation.
Interested in sponsorship?
Position your firm as a thought leader in front of senior decision-makers from financial services, regulators, policy makers and raise your profile via our extensive global marketing in the run-up to the event, the live streaming on the day around the world and the wide media coverage afterwards