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COST Action 19130 - Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance - Towards a transparent financial industry

The financial sector is the largest user of digital technologies and a major driver in the digital transformation of the economy. Financial technology (FinTech) aims to both compete with and support the established financial industry in the delivery of financial services. Globally, more than $100 billion of investments have been made into FinTech companies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) since 2010, and continue growing substantially. In early 2018, the European Commission unveiled (a) their action plan for a more competitive and innovative financial market, and (b) an initiative on AI with the aim to harness the opportunities presented by technology-enabled innovations. Europe should become a global hub for FinTech, with the economy being able to benefit from the European Single Market.

The Action will investigate AI and Fintech from three different angles: Transparency in FinTech, Transparent versus Black Box Decision-Support Models in the Financial Industry and Transparency into Investment Product Performance for Clients. The Action will bridge the gap between academia, industry, the public and governmental organisations by working in an interdisciplinary way across Europe and focusing on innovation.

The key objectives are:

• to improve transparency of AI supported processes in the Fintech space
• to address the disparity between the proliferation in AI models within the financial industry for risk assessment and decision-making, and the limited insight the public has in its consequences by developing policy papers and methods to increase transparency
• to develop methods to scrutinize the quality of products, especially rule-based “smart beta” ones, across the asset management, banking and insurance industries.

Our COST Action FinAI

• Responsibilities
• Internal Newsletter
• External Newsletter
• Events
• How to join
• Important links
• Technical Coordination
• Get funding (proposals for activities)
• Contacts

COST Action Chair

The Action Chair is elected during an Action MC meeting by the Action MC from amongst the Action’s MC members. The Action Chair is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Action. Among those responsibilities, the elected Action Chair has under its remit in the framework of these financial rules the following:

• Manage Action MC approvals / decisions concerning expenditure (for meetings, Training Schools, Local Organiser Support, Short Term Scientific Missions, Dissemination and Publications) and communicate the outcome of Action MC approvals / decisions to the Grant Manager and to the COST Association.
• Define and communicate to the Grant Manager, on behalf of the Action’s MC, a list of all eligible Action Participants who are entitled to be reimbursed for their attendance at approved meetings and Training Schools – this task shall be assumed by the Action Vice-Chair when the Action Chair is affiliated to the Grant Holder Institution.
• Authorise payments – this task shall be assumed by the Action Vice-Chair when the Action Chair is affiliated to the Grant Holder Institution.
• Review, sign and date financial reports – this task shall be assumed by the Action Vice-Chair when the Action Chair is affiliated to the Grant Holder Institution.

The current Action Chair is Prof. Dr. Jörg Osterrieder

COST FinAI Working Groups

COST FinAI Working Group Leaders

• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Karl Härdle, Leader Working Group 1, email
• Prof. Dr. Petre Lameski, Leader Working Group 2, email
• Prof. Dr. Kristina Šutienė, Co-Leader Working Group 2, email
• Prof. Dr. Peter Schwendner, Leader Working Group 3, email

COST FinAI Working Group members

COST FinAI Working group members (official list)

COST FinAI Working group 1 members

COST FinAI Working group 2 members

COST FinAI Working group 3 members

COST FinAI Working Group details

• Working group 1 - Transparency in FinTech
• Working group 2 - Transparent versus Black Box Decision-Support Models in the Financial Industry
• Working group 3 - Transparency into Investment Product Performance for Clients

COST Action Tools

To apply for an STSM grant or ITC grant, please register here: Official e-COST tool

• STSM application
• ITC application
• Training schools
• Conferences and workshops
• Overview of grants

Collaboration with industry, governments and international organisations

• Industry coordination
• Government collaboration
• Regulators
• International organisations

Management Committee Meetings

• 1st MC meeting, online, September 14/15, 2020, Start of the Action FinAI
• 2nd MC meeting, online, November 12, 2020, Start of the first Grant Period
• 3rd MC meeting, online, February 17, 2021, Intermediate Results from the first Grant Period
• 4th MC meeting, online, May 17, 2021
• 5th MC meeting, hybrid, October 28, 2021

Working Group Meetings

• See our meet-up [1]

Grant Holder

The COST Action runs from September 2020 until September 2024 and is divided into five grant periods, each with different goals and budget. Please go to grant periods for more details.

Research

• Official COST FinAI Publications
• Research proposals
• Research projects
• How do I get funding for my COST activities?
• Contribute to writing a common paper

Diversity

Diversity is one of the main aspects to be considered in this Action. The three main considerations are gender balance, participation of Inclusiveness Target Countries and Early Career Investigators.

Science Communication

• Details about our Science Communication.
• Webpage
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google Form to add contents on Website and Media

For any content to be added to our website and Newsletter/Blog, please compile the following Form

Short-term scientific missions

Short-term scientific missions STSM and Inclusiveness Target Country conference grants are two of the main tools which support the COST Action goals.

Virtual Networking

The Virtual Networking Grants aim to promote virtual collaboration within the Action.

How to?

• How to publish COST papers?
• How to apply for STSMs?
• How to join?
• How do I get funding for my COST activities?
• How to find the google drive?

Contacts

Prof. Dr. Joerg Osterrieder, Action Chair, email

Prof. Dr. Valerio Poti, Action Vice Chair, email

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Karl Härdle, Leader Working Group 1, email

Prof. Dr. Petre Lameski, Leader Working Group 2, email

Prof. Dr. Peter Schwendner, Leader Working Group 3, email

Dr. Branka Hadji Misheva, Grant Holder, email

Dr. Alessia Paccagnini, Science Communication Manager, email

Prof. Dr. Dr. Ania Zalewska, Academia-Government Coordinator, email

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vasile Alecsandru Strat, Virtual Network Strategy Manager, email

Assist. Prof. Dr. Apostolos Chalkis, Virtual Network Strategy Manager Substitute, email

COST FinAI Core Group

COST FinAI member profiles

COST FinAI country profiles

COST FinAI Scientific Advisory Board

Management Committee

COST FinAI participants

Virtual Mobility Grants

• Virtual Mobility Strategy [2]
• Information about VMGs

Grant Periods

• Grant Period 1
• Grant Period 2

Acknowledgements

Important_links#COST_Acknowlegdement

Disclaimers

• For events: This event is based upon work from COST Action 19130 Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), www.cost.eu

• For publications: This publication is based upon work from COST Action 19130 Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), www.cost.eu

• For articles: This article is based upon work from COST Action 19130 Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), www.cost.eu

COST FinAI Logo

Please always use our COST FinAI logo.