The Third Toronto Fintech Conference

Sponsored by the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab at Ivey Business School

The Toronto Fintech Conference is an event where scholars in the fields of strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation, organization theory, finance, and economics can discuss their research on the rise, diffusion, and disruptive potential of financial technologies (“Fintech”). 

Technologies such as AI, crypto tokens, blockchain, open APIs, and the Internet of Things are reshaping the economy by promoting decentralization, disintermediation, and digitization in a manner described by some as the 4th industrial revolution. Applications including cryptocurrency, digital payments, P2P and marketplace lending, digital advice (e.g. robo-advisors), smart contracts, decentralized autonomous organizations, and insurtech are enabling new business models in the financial sector and beyond. Understanding fintech based on rigorous theory and empirical research is the goal of our community of social science scholars.

The Toronto Fintech Conference has three objectives:

1/ To provide a networking opportunity for the fast-growing academic community of scholars (both professors and PhD students) who research fintech topics across a range of related disciplines.

2/ To discuss cutting-edge research, both theoretical and empirical, which address important issues related to the antecedents and consequences of decentralization, disintermediation, and digitization in the fintech sector and beyond. The ultimate goal is to work together toward publication at top journals.

3/ To facilitate a dialogue between academia and public & private sectors, by bringing academics, executives, entrepreneurs, and policymakers together.

In October 2017, the First Toronto Fintech Conference attracted a large volume of high quality academic submissions across the fields of strategy, entrepreneurship, finance, economics, and organization theory. In total, 34 papers were presented and discussed in nine themed tracks.

In March 2019, during the 2nd Toronto Fintech Conference, 42 papers were presented and discussed in 11 themed tracks. Leading academic thinkers representing 45 universities from all over the world met and debated this exciting area of study.

Call for Full Papers or Proposals

We invite submissions to the 3rd Toronto Fintech Conference, an event held every 18 months where scholars in the fields of strategy/management, economics, finance, entrepreneurship/innovation, organization theory/sociology, and law/public policy discuss their research on the rise, diffusion, and disruptive potential of financial technologies (“Fintech”).  

The Conference is supported by the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab at Ivey Business School, which proudly offers five travel grants of CAD$750 for the top PhD student papers accepted at by our Program Committee and a CAD$2,000 cash prize for the Best Fintech Paper. A CAD$750 cash prize will reward the Best Cryptoeconomics Paper.

Authors can submit either a full working paper or a 5-page proposal (double-spaced, 12 pt font), to be followed by a 30-40 page full paper should the proposal be accepted. If a proposal is submitted, it should include four major elements: (1) theory framework and research questions; (2) empirical strategy, setting, and data (or theory development, for conceptual papers); (3) preliminary results (or expected results, but note that full papers are due on October 10, 2020); and (4) key implications.

Submission deadline: June 15, 2020

Event Details

Date: November 5-6, 2020

Conference Venue: Scotiabank Centre, 40 King Street West, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Canada

Cost: $100 (+HST) 

Our conference is 6 months away and we are hoping to continue with our initial plan. With participants’ safety and health as priorities, we will keep monitoring the Covid-19 situation closely and will follow guidelines by the Canadian government and health authorities around the organization of the event. 

Program Committee

The submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by our Program Committee:

Dr Balázs Bodó, Associate Professor & Director of Blockchain & Society Policy Research Lab, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Hanna Halaburda, Associate Professor of Information, Operations & Management Sciences, Stern School of Business, NYU
Dr. Ying-Ying Hsieh, Assistant Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Imperial College Business School
Dr. Pinar Ozcan, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Saïd Business School, Oxford University
Dr. Andreas Park, Associate Professor of Finance, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Dr. Roger Loh, Associate Professor of Finance, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, Singapore
Dr. Jean-Philippe Vergne (Chair), Associate Professor of Strategy & Organization, Ivey Business School

Contact

We look forward to your submissions! Should you have any questions, please contact Nur Ahmed (nahmed.phd@ivey.ca) who chairs our Organizing Committee this year.