Sustainable Financial Innovation Centre (SFiC)

The SFiC brings together colleagues in Birmingham and Dubai from the full spectrum of disciplinary perspectives on FinTech and sustainable finance.


SFiC logo 
  • About SFiC

    The SFiC is based in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

  • Our Research

    SFiC is the first interdisciplinary research centre to focus on financial technology (FinTech) and sustainable financial innovation.

  • Our People

    Learn more about our core management group, internal and external associate staff and industry partners.


Previous Events

SFiC confrence 2023

People walking at conference event

The world is currently experiencing significant economic and geopolitical instability. As ESG objectives become a key focus in asset management, the reallocation of capital has significant implications for portfolio selection and asset pricing. However, ESG investors often face significant uncertainty about a company's true ESG performance e.g. the significant variation in ESG ratings across rating agencies. Moreover, in the wake of geopolitical and economic instability, analysts’ reports show that in 2022, investors withdrew more money from sustainable funds than they invested for the first time in over a decade.

The Sustainable Financial Innovation Research Centre (SFiC) held its annual conference in the University of Birmingham, Dubai during 25-26 Nov, 2023. The conference theme was ESG in the era of geopolitical and economic instability. Lord Edward Lister- co Chair of the UAE-UK Business council opened the conference. The opening session includes speeches by H.E . Dr. Maryam Al Suwaidi, CEO, Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), UAE and H.E Dr. Abdulrahman Al Hamidy,  Director General Chairman of the Board, Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).

A memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the University of Birmingham and the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) was signed during the conference with the aim of helping to boost the reliability, competitiveness, and sustainability of the UAE’s capital market, further increasing investor confidence in the UAE. This collaboration underlines our position as a strategic knowledge and research partner to support SCA’s capacity building efforts through leveraging our international network of experts and academics to address real world challenges in capital markets.