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Engineering the Capital Network: Insights from Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025

October 30, 2025

Video Transcript

Welcome to FinTech TV.

Abu Dhabi Finance Week is the Mina region's leading business and investment summit.

Global leaders, market experts, policymakers, and investors from over 100 countries will gather to foster meaningful dialogue as well as collaboration spanning four dynamic days.

ADFW 2025 will feature 5 flagship forums.

And more than 60 curated events designed to unlock opportunities, encourage partnerships, as well as accelerate economic growth.

Now the 4th edition centers on the theme engineering the capital network, focusing on the deliberate creation of new financial systems that leverage innovation, AI and the shifting landscape of global capital flows.

Joining me at the New York Stock Exchange.

Discuss ADGM's role in shaping the future of finance is Emmanuel Givinakis, the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market.

Emmanuel, welcome back.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you for having me.

Well, it is that time of year, and Abu Dhabi Finance Week is right around the corner.

So tell me about this year's gathering.

Well, it's going to be bigger and better than the last three.

We've got over 300 speakers.

We have the leaders of assets ranging up to $60 trillion so nearly 50% of the world's GDP, arriving to discuss the future of finance and how we can engineer uh capital to work better globally.

And Emmanuel, that is very significant.

So what key themes do you hope emerge from the events as well as discussion to shape the future of finance, as well as regulation?

Well, this year's key themes are going to be global economic macro themes, but also asset management.

In particular, we're also looking at areas around private markets.

We're looking at areas around tokenization.

Uh, tokenization and private markets together.

So there's there's a real movement towards greater utilization of digitization of financial services.

That's one aspect.

The other is how we can work more closely together globally to move capital around in a more efficient way.

Give us an idea of some of the areas that will be in the spotlight as we approach this event.

Well, as I mentioned a little earlier, some of the spotlight areas will be around, um, infrastructure, for example.

That's a new area that we're looking at energy investment into energy transition, as well as any energy infrastructure.

We're looking at AI.

There's a lot of emphasis around AI as well this year, so we're spending a lot more energy and time around AI, especially on day 3, which is our tech day in essence, FinTech Abu Dhabi.

So we're looking at a whole range of different areas, including family offices as well.

So from a regulatory perspective we've got the 4th edition of the Global regulators summit.

This year we're looking at private credit and private markets and how regulators can regulate those areas in a safe and sound manner and how that area of the industry is growing rapidly.

So we need to be attentive to that, but also engage with the industry to understand it better.

And speaking of which, could you tell us what are the most significant regulatory developments that have been introduced by ADG and the fears?

Just in the last 12 months we've introduced a new cybercrime framework.

We've introduced enhanced, um, changes to our virtual asset crypto framework, which, uh, we believe is going to really, um, accelerate, um, that part of our ecosystem.

We've done a lot of work with regard to fiat reference tokens, so stablecoins.

So we have a number of stablecoin issuers now based in ADGM.

We have done quite a bit of work around fund reporting, and we're going to do more work around that.

We're doing a lot of work around reinsurance and insurance as well, in going forward.

So there's a whole host of things that we're doing and we've done, and we'll continue to because as you know, we're very um much believers in innovation.

Making sure that we keep up with industry because industry never stops innovating with regard to products and services.

And finally, Emmanuel, those developments that you mentioned, how do they actually strengthen the position as a trusted financial centers?

Well, ADGM over the last 10 years has really built itself as a, as a platform that has regulatory certainty and reliability, great business infrastructure.

And what we're doing and have been doing more recently is just building upon that.

So as we go forward, we want to have a trusted, transparent, fair marketplace for all stakeholders.

Well, Emmanuel, it was wonderful to have you back here at the New York Stock Exchange.

Thank you so much for joining us again on FinTech TV.

Always a pleasure.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

Remy Blaire welcomes Emmanuel Givanakis, the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at ADGM. The discussion centers around the upcoming Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) 2025, which is recognized as the MENA region’s leading business and investment summit.

Remy introduces the significance of ADFW 2025, highlighting that it will bring together global leaders, market experts, policymakers, and investors from over 100 countries. The event spans four dynamic days and features five flagship forums along with more than 60 curated events aimed at unlocking opportunities, fostering partnerships, and accelerating economic growth. This year’s theme, “Engineering the Capital Network,” focuses on the creation of innovative financial systems that leverage technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), and adapt to the shifting landscape of global capital flows.

Emmanuel shares that ADFW 2025 is set to be larger and more impactful than previous editions, with over 300 speakers and leaders managing assets totaling up to $60 trillion—nearly half of the world’s GDP. Remy inquires about the key themes expected to emerge from the event, and Emmanuel outlines that discussions will revolve around global economic macro themes, asset management, private markets, and the growing trend of tokenization. He emphasizes the movement towards greater digitization of financial services and the necessity for global collaboration to enhance capital efficiency.

As the conversation progresses, Remy asks Emmanuel to highlight specific areas that will be in the spotlight during the event. Emmanuel mentions infrastructure investment, energy transition, and AI, particularly on the designated tech day of the summit. He also discusses the fourth edition of the Global Regulators Summit, which will focus on private credit and private markets, stressing the importance of regulatory engagement in these rapidly evolving sectors.

Remy then prompts Emmanuel to elaborate on the significant regulatory developments introduced by ADGM in the past year. Emmanuel details the introduction of a new cybercrime framework, enhancements to the virtual asset crypto framework, and initiatives surrounding stablecoins and fund reporting. He underscores ADGM’s commitment to innovation and the need to keep pace with industry advancements.

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