The MP who heads Parliament's fintech group says Brexit is 'more of an opportunity than a threat' — despite fears from the sector

Adam Afriyie MP

Fintech community has warned: "Brexit has the potential to slow down the growth of UK fintech."
Tory MP Adam Afriyie heads the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fintech.
Afriyie told BI: "Brexit, I think, is actually more of an opportunity than a threat."
He says funding is still going strong and talent will be protected.

LONDON — The head of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fintech says Brexit will present "opportunities" for the sector, despite reservations in the industry.

Leading British fintech businesses last year set up the Fintech Delivery Panel (FDP) to "produce an ambitious post-Brexit vision for the UK's fintech sector." Deputy chair Eamon Jubbawy said at the time: "There is a wide-ranging consensus in the tech sector that Brexit has the potential to slow down the growth of UK fintech."

But Conservative MP Adam Afriyie told Business Insider: "I think we’re poised to continue to take the world by storm on fintech... Brexit, I think, is actually more of an opportunity than a threat."

Afriyie, who supported Brexit, chairs Parliament's cross-party fintech group and regularly meets with fintech businesses doing everything from peer-to-peer lending to back-office banking processes. Afriyie set up his own IT business prior to going into politics.

He told BI: "Where there’s change, where there’s complexity, that is where businesses more than any others, they’ll find the gaps where there’s money to be made.

"Do I have some question marks about the politicians' ability to resolve uncertainty in a sensible way? Yes I do. Do I have any doubt that our businesses and entrepreneurs will be able to take advantage, find the opportunities, in any changes that are upcoming? I think they’ll find those opportunities quicker than anybody else in society because it’s in their interest to do so."

He added: "People do worry about Brexit but the data shouldn’t worry people at all. I’m absolutely stunned by the rise in foreign direct investment into fintech in the UK and also by the rise in investment into tech generally in the UK over the last year."

More than $1 billion was invested into UK fintech during the first three quarters of 2017 despite the vote to leave the European Union in June 2016.

Afriyie told Business Insider: "Even myself as a Brexiter, I thought, oh well we’re going to have a bit of a fall-off in investment. Actually, the opposite has happened. That’s a sign that our fintech industry is very strong but also that our fundamentals are pretty strong too."

Many in the fintech industry also fear that it will be difficult to attract top international talent to the UK post-Brexit.

Afriyie countered: "People didn’t particularly notice but last November we actually doubled the number of what’s called exceptional talent visas."

The government announced last November that the number of "Tier 1" visas for skilled immigrants would be increased from 1,000 to 2,000 per year.

"I can quite safely predict that that will increase enormously at the point at which we leave the EU, because we recognise — the government recognises, we recognise as a nation — that fintech and those very highly talented people, the international people in the fintech sector, need to feel welcomed — and they will be," Afriyie told BI.

"Obviously, there are challenges, as we work out what the nature of the deal is. But quite frankly there’s a big willingness around the world to back Britain, to back British fintech and to continue to invest here, to continue to develop here, and to continue to assimilate the standards and regulatory environments that we are developing here."

Despite his optimism, Afriyie stressed in the same interview with Business Insider that the government and financial regulators must continue to take the same "light touch" approach to fintech in order for continued success.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Don't let stretched valuations keep you from betting on high-profile tech and media stocks, says CFRA