ICMA renames FinTech and Digitalisation function to reflect broader innovation agenda
29 September 2026 The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) today announces that its FinTech and Digitalisation function has been renamed Innovation and Digitalisation, reflecting the growing breadth of ICMA's work to support innovation across the international debt capital markets.
The change reflects how technology, data and new market practices are reshaping capital markets. ICMA's work now extends beyond emerging financial technologies and digitalisation to a broader innovation agenda, including the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, the move of digital assets and tokenisation from pilots to live transactions, the development of standards to support interoperability between traditional and decentralised finance, and the modernisation of market processes to make markets more efficient, scalable and resilient.
ICMA works with members, regulators, public authorities, market infrastructures and other industry stakeholders to identify emerging developments, test practical applications and support common approaches and standards. Its current initiatives include working groups focused on AI in capital markets, DLT-based bonds, the Bond Data Taxonomy and electronic trading, alongside the primary market innovation project.
The new name underlines ICMA's role in convening the industry around shared challenges and practical market-led solutions. As technologies and market practices become increasingly connected, Innovation and Digitalisation will focus on the foundations that help innovation scale safely and effectively: common standards, reliable data, appropriate safeguards and industry collaboration.
Commenting on the change, Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, said: "Innovation in the international capital markets is no longer defined by technology alone. AI, tokenisation, common data standards, new products and more efficient processes are changing how markets operate. Innovation and Digitalisation better captures the breadth of ICMA's work and our role in bringing the industry together to turn promising ideas into practical market solutions."
Georgina Jarratt, Managing Director and Head of Innovation and Digitalisation at ICMA, said: "FinTech remains an important part of our work, but innovation is broader than any single technology. It can mean simplifying a process, improving a workflow, developing a new product, or creating the standards and infrastructure that allow firms, platforms and technologies to work together. Our focus is on helping members identify where innovation can deliver real value and on supporting practical change across the international capital markets."
The team's mission remains unchanged: to provide a forum for market participants to exchange expertise, engage with policymakers and regulators, develop common standards and explore the practical application of emerging technologies and new market practices.
The new name will also be reflected in ICMA's flagship annual event. Future editions of the FinTech & Digitalisation Forum will become the ICMA Innovation and Digitalisation Forum, covering themes including innovation in global bond markets, artificial intelligence, tokenisation, digital assets and settlement, data standards and primary market innovation.
Further information on ICMA's Innovation and Digitalisation work is available here.
