Tech Your Marks, Get Set…

26 November 2025

One of the comments made during a panel session at our recent and inaugural FINx event, which brought together digital innovators and finance professionals to discuss developments in the fintech space, made me pause for thought.

When outlining Jersey’s track record in regulatory guidance around virtual assets, one of our excellent panellists mentioned that Jersey had first published virtual assets guidance back in 2016 – almost ten years ago – when the jurisdiction became one of the first international finance centres (IFCs) to regulate virtual currency exchanges.

That was followed up in 2017 with guidance around Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), and last year the JFSC published updated guidance around the tokenisation of real-world assets and stablecoins. It makes for an impressive picture in terms of creating a progressive regulatory framework in an area of ‘digital finance’ that has evolved quickly.

‘Pace of change’ is a term we often use when talking about technology. But it’s only when we pause to reflect on how that change is playing out in practice that we can really appreciate what that means.

In this instance, in less than a decade, Jersey has put in place a robust and pragmatic framework for virtual assets and tokenisation which continues to evolve and transform cross-border trade and finance. And we have done that faster than almost every other jurisdiction.

But still things continue to change.

Away from virtual assets, for instance, AI (also a major focus at FINx) is evolving rapidly too. Although AI has been around for a long time, commercially usable generative AI tools have only been available for a couple of years and are already widely used in the business environment today.

As was reiterated multiple times at FINx, all change in our industry today is digital change. And as we look forward, how we embrace the potential of digital technologies – from blockchain to regtech to AI – will directly impact our competitiveness and our ability to support clients as an international finance centre.

Delivering greater productivity; greater accuracy; greater scale; greater transparency. Better service.

Just as we have done with virtual assets, we must maintain that momentum as a jurisdiction across the fintech spectrum. And that will require a focus on collaboration and a commitment to investing in skills.

Momentum

AI, of course, is inescapable – it’s no exaggeration to say that it represents both the biggest opportunity and potentially the most considerable risk to Jersey’s finance industry of our lifetime.

Over the past year, we’ve seen the sector move from a period of experimentation to a phase of essential deployment – more than 85% of financial services firms globally now use AI technologies, in areas such as fraud detection, risk modelling and digital marketing. It’s another illustration of how quickly this is moving.

That sense of urgency ran throughout FINx – and it made me think back to the early stages of the pandemic, when the industry pivoted quickly to move into an online digital environment. According to McKinsey, in the space of a few weeks of the pandemic, digital adoption in the business world advanced by the equivalent of about five years. We saw that in Jersey too.

And since then, we haven’t eased off; we’ve recognised the importance of maintaining momentum, conscious that our digital edge will be our differentiator. While we have a good track record, we must maintain pace and deliver on our promise of being a rapid adopter of digital solutions.

In relation to AI, for example, Jersey Finance worked with Grant Thornton UK last year to produce a report looking at the impact of AI on financial services in Jersey. It reinforced the narrative that financial services is ripe for automation.

We are seeing, for example, private investors and families embracing a much closer relationship with AI and the digital environment – from digitally-powered approaches to ESG investment to operational automation.
On the funds side, AI is playing a significant role supporting mass data management, compliance and reporting. And in banking, a huge number of manual processes are already benefitting from AI, such as due diligence and onboarding.

This can help us do what we already do better – but it can also bring new opportunities. That’s exciting.

I’ve also been pleased that Jersey has continued to lead the way in the tokenisation space in 2025. We published a study at the beginning of 2025, building on previous papers, providing further use cases for tokenisation and how Jersey can play its role. And that is being followed up soon by a further paper looking at stablecoins and their application in cross-border investment. 2025 has been a pivotal year in stablecoin development, with the industry seeing a rapid acceleration in terms of issuance and volume.

Collaboration

Collaboration is critical as we look to maintain our fintech momentum, working with like-minded, ambitious stakeholders, such as Digital Jersey, the JFSC and government, as well as our Members, to ensure that as an industry we are joined up and progressive in our adoption of technologies.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen that materialise, with the creation of the Jersey AI Council which we are proud to be a member of. We’re looking forward to bringing our experience to the table and learning from others so that our industry, and Island, can thrive through AI adoption.

Two professionals talking while standing in a city plaza.

Investing in digital skills is also essential if we are to remain successful as an IFC.

Companies that embrace upskilling to help professionals adapt to and benefit from changes brought about by AI and other technologies will have the most success attracting and retaining top talent. In Jersey, we are very much alive to this, actively working with firms to ensure we are proactive in identifying skills gaps.

All this doesn’t just mean keeping up with the pace of change. It means being relentless in our pursuit of fintech innovation by being collaborative in how we address challenges, opportunities and skills – just as we have done over the past decade with virtual assets.

Doing so will pay dividends to our industry and local economy in the long term and deliver significant benefits to the global markets we serve.