Bryan Zhang

Bryan Zheng Zhang is a prominent academic and financial technology expert who is co-founder and the executive director of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, and co-founder of Financial Innovation for Impact. He is also a non-executive director of the UK Financial Conduct Authority since 2024, sitting on its Board Risk Committee and Audit Committee.^[1][2][3]

Bryan Zhang
Education	University of Cambridge, University of Oxford
Occupation(s)	FinTech expert and non-executive director
Known for	FinTech and regulatory innovation

Zhang has led and co-authored over 50 regional and global fintech market and regulatory reports.^[4][5][6] His commentary has appeared in articles from a number of media outlets,^[7][8] including the BBC,^[9] the Financial Times,^[10] and City A.M..^[11]

He is a member of the Bank of England's CBDC Engagement Forum,^[12] the OECD's Steering Group on SME & Entrepreneurship Finance, International Monetary Fund's FAS Advisory Group, the Innovation Panel of the Dubai International Financial Centre,^[13] and a member of the Bretton Woods Committee.^[14] Additionally, he co-chairs the Future of Global FinTech initiative in partnership with the World Economic Forum.^[15][16] Bryan served as a final round judge for Bank for International Settlements and Reserve Bank of India's G20 TechSprint on cross-border payments in 2023. ^{[17] [18]}

In 2022, he was appointed by the Payment Systems Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority as the Independent Chair of a Strategic Working Group to help shape the future development of Open Banking in the United Kingdom^[19][20][21]

Bryan's academic background includes training in Economic Geography and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and at the University of Oxford.^[22] He is an Associate of the Senior Common Room (ASCR) at King's College, Cambridge and a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Alternative Finance, a double anonymised hybrid journal that addresses the technological evolution of the financial sector and its impacts.^[23] Bryan also worked as an executive for Oxfam in international development and served on its governance body Oxfam Association for two consecutive terms between 2006 - 2012. ^{[24] [25]}