HKU-SCF Distinguished Lecture Series in ESG – Digital Footprints in the Credit Market and the Impacts on Financial Inclusion

HKU-SCF FinTech Academy is delighted to have Professor Manju Puri and Mr. Aalishaan Zaidi as our speakers for the upcoming lecture for the Distinguished Lecture Series in ESG.  Our first speaker, Professor Manju Puri is the J. B. Fuqua Professor of Finance at Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. She is an authority in the field of empirical corporate finance and has particular expertise in financial intermediation. Our second speaker, Mr. Aalishaan Zaidi is the Global Head of Personal Banking for Consumer, Private & Business Banking at Standard Chartered.

Title: Digital Footprints in the Credit Market and the Impacts on Financial Inclusion
Date: 8 Aug 2022 (MON)
Time: 10:00 – 11:30am (GMT+8, HK Time)
Format: Hybrid (In person at HKU/ Zoom)
*for in person attendance, registration must be submitted on or before 3 Aug at 6pm

Lecture Summary: In this lecture, Professor Manju Puri will discuss the development of FinTech lending, especially how technologies and digital footprints can be used to improve lender’s risk management practice. Her research shows that utilizing technologies and digital footprints can enhance the predictive power for borrower creditworthiness and lower default rates. Based on these observations, she will then talk about the potential of using financial technologies and digital footprints to increase financial inclusion for borrowers who previously lack access to credit, especially for those in emerging markets.

Speaker: Professor Manju Puri, J. B. Fuqua Professor of Finance at Fuqua School of Business at Duke University

Professor Manju Puri is the J. B. Fuqua Professor of Finance at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. She was earlier Associate Professor of Finance at Stanford Business School, which she joined after earning her Ph.D in finance at New York University and MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Professor Puri is an authority in the field of empirical corporate finance and has particular expertise in financial intermediation. Her published work spans the areas of commercial banks, investment banks, venture capital, entrepreneurship, behavioral finance, and FinTech. Her research has appeared in publications such as American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. She has been the recipient of the Sloan Research Fellowship as well as multiple awards from the National Science Foundation. Her publication record includes over 30 refereed papers in the top finance and economic journals.

Speaker: Mr. Aalishaan Zaidi, Global Head of Personal Banking for Consumer, Private & Business Banking at Standard Chartered

Mr. Aalishaan Zaidi is the Global Head, Personal Banking for Consumer, Private & Business Banking (CPBB) at Standard Chartered. Based in Singapore. Mr. Zaidi has been with Standard Chartered Bank for over 25 years and worked in the corporate & institutional, consumer & retail and investment banking divisions of Standard Chartered since joining the bank in 1994 as a management trainee in Pakistan. He has held a number of senior roles across Asia, Africa and the Middle East including Global Head Digital Banking, Group Head Branch Banking and Head of Consumer Banking, Pakistan.

Moderator: Dr. Mingzhu Tai, Assistant Professor at HKU Business School

Dr. Mingzhu TAI joined HKU after receiving her Ph.D in Business Economics from Harvard University in 2017. Before that she received her Master and Bachelor degrees in Finance from Tsinghua University. Dr. Tai’s research interests mainly include consumer and household finance, financial intermediation and general corporate finance. She is currently working to understand the relationship between banks, real estate markets, financial regulations, and credit activities by consumers and businesses. She also studies how regulation changes in bankruptcy protection or credit disclosure affect consumer debt structures and other credit activities. Besides these fields, Dr. Tai is also interested in topics in Behavioral Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Law and Finance.