FinTech Australia CEO Will Step Down. Danielle Szetho, FinTech Australia’s first CEO, will leave her post after two years of lobbying successfully for changes in the country’s financial sector.
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Interim CEO is Sarah Worboys
Worboys is a former chartered accountant who works actively with startup companies. In her more recent post, she was Timelio’s head of strategy and operations – a peer-to-peer invoice financier located in Melbourne.
Szetho, who worked as a product manager for Fairfax Media, was instrumental in the not-for-profit sector, setting up the yearly Finnie awards, successfully debated the need for equity crowdfunding and saw to it that the federal government noticed the importance of FinTech.
FinTech Australia’s membership increased from 52 to 200
FinTech Australia’s membership increased from 52 to 200 while Szetho was in charge for the past two years (since June 2016). FinTech Australia’s main goal is to ensure the country is the leader in the FinTech Innovation and Investment market.
Szetho said she’s enjoyed expanding FinTech Australia to get to where it is now. However, she said, it’s time for another person to take it even further as the sector continues to grow as well. Szetho said she was going to rest and do some traveling before she moved into her next career phase.
Strong support from the international network
She said FinTech Australia is now much bigger than the ambitious idea it once was. She said the industry organization has ensured the FinTech agenda spread throughout the nation. With more than 200 members including policymakers and regulators, the FinTech community is bound to experience more growth with the strong support from the international network.
Szetho remarked about the biggest policy wins she was a part of including:
- Development of ASIC Regulatory Sandbox
- Introduction of Equity Crowdfunding to Country
- Eliminating double-taxing of GST on digital currencies and introducing digital currency platform under country’s AML/CTF regime
- Diminishing obstacles to develop the new digital challenger banks
- Setting up Consumer Data Right, which allowed for Australia’s Open Banking regime
- Laying down the foundation for a self-regulatory framework for unsecured Small Business FinTech lending sector
Szetho said she’ll be working with Policy leads and Board over the next several weeks to make sure they have the support they need in the transition until full control is handed over to the new CEO. Although Worboys will be the interim CEO, FinTech Australia is conducting a search for a new CEO for the company.
